Changing Times
by 7thheavengirl08
Summary: 3rd in a series. The 1st story is Goodbye and Hello, & the 2nd is The Love of My Life. A story about changes coming for the Camden family and their friends. Contains the death of a semi-major character. Rated T for some suggestive content/adult situations
1. The Camden Family & Friends

A/N: Here's a little bit about the Camden family & some of their friends. Since there are so many characters now, and I've skipped several years since the previous story, I figured this would help you keep them all straight!

**Camden Family:**

Annie Camden-Annie still stays at home, even though the twins have graduated from high school. She also watches Lucy's kids while Ben and Lucy are at work, as well as Simon and Rose's daughter during the school year. She is widowed. Eric died of a heart attack almost 8 years ago.

Matt Camden (38)-Matt is an OB/GYN with a private practice in Glenn Oak. He is married to Sarah Glass Camden, and they have two twin girls, Ava (9) and Erica (9).

Sarah Glass Camden (36)-Sarah is a pediatrician with a private practice in Glenn Oak.

Mary Camden Riviera (35)-Mary teaches at Glenn Oak High School and is also the girl's basketball coach. She is married to Carlos Riviera, and they have 3 boys, Charlie (11), Liam (9), and Keller (9).

Carlos Camden Riviera (36)-Carlos is also a teacher at Glenn Oak High.

Lucy Camden Kinkirk (32)-Lucy is married to Ben Kinkirk. (To read Ben and Lucy's love story, please read _The Love of My Life_.) She was previously married to Kevin Kinkirk, Ben's brother, a police officer, but he was shot and killed in the line of duty. She is co-minister with Chandler Hampton at Glenn Oak Community Church, the same church her dad pastured before his death. She and Kevin had 3 girls and 1 boy, Savannah (10), Erin (7), Eric (4), and Allison (4). Lucy was pregnant with Eric and Allison when Kevin died.

Ben Kinkirk (34)-Ben works as a firefighter for Glenn Oak Station 14.

Simon Camden (28)-Simon is a guidance counselor at Glenn Oak High School. He is married to Rose Taylor Camden. They have one girl, Kaitlyn (3). (For a little bit of Simon and Rose's love story, please read _Goodbye and Hello_, the first story in this series.)

Rose Taylor Camden (27)-Rose is a social worker for the city of Glenn Oak.

Ruthie Camden Petrowski (25)-Ruthie is a stay-at-home mom. She is married to Peter Petrowski. She and Peter have one boy, Daniel (3). (For Peter and Ruthie's love story, please read _Goodbye and Hello_.)

Peter Petrowski (25)-Peter owns an accounting firm.

Sam Camden (20)-Sam is going to be a junior at Glenn Oak Community College. He has been dating Amy Palmer, a girl he met at college, for almost six months.

David Camden (20)-David is going to be a junior at UCLA. He has been dating Leah West, his high school sweetheart, for nearly four years.

**Friends:**

Chandler & Roxanne Hampton-Chandler is co-pastor of Glenn Oak Community Church with Lucy. He is married to Roxanne, who was Kevin's partner at the Glenn Oak Police Department before he died. Roxanne is eight months pregnant with their first child.

Chief Michaels-Chief Michaels is a long-time friend of the family. He is police chief of the Glenn Oak Police Department. He is getting ready to retire from the force.

Captain Ryan Stevens-Captain Stevens is Ben's captain. He is a father figure to Ben, and has gotten to be good friends with all of the Camdens.

Richard and Rosina Glass-Richard and Rosina are Sarah's parents. Richard is a Jewish Rabbi. They live in New York.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: I know it's been awhile since i posted anything on here; I've been insanely busy and didn't want to start a new story until I knew that I'd have time to finish it. Lots of people asked for another 7th heaven sequel, so I hope you enjoy this! Not quite sure where I'm going with it yet, or even who it's going to focus on, I guess we'll just see what happens...if you have any ideas or suggestions, or any character (preferably a Camden) that you want this story to focus on, please let me know!

Disclaimer: I own no part of 7th Heaven.

* * *

"Ben, do you know where my keys are?" Lucy called from the bedroom.

Ben smiled, picked Lucy's keys up off the kitchen table where she had thrown them when she'd gotten home the night before, and walked to the bedroom. He leaned against the door frame, watching Lucy rush about the room getting ready, and waited for her to notice him.

"Ben? Did you hear-" Lucy started to call again, and then she saw Ben standing in the doorway.

Ben held up Lucy's keys, pushed himself off the door frame, and walked over to her. "They were on the kitchen table where you put them last night."

Lucy reached out to grab them from him, but Ben held them up out of her reach. "Ben! I need my keys! I'm going to be late if I don't leave soon," she said, glancing at her watch.

Ben just smiled. "You need to slow down, Luce. You're constantly running off somewhere, whether to the church, a counseling session, or to make visits at the hospital. The girls and I hardly ever see you anymore."

Lucy sighed. "I know, Ben. It's just hard right now. With Roxanne on complete bed rest until the baby comes, Chandler doesn't feel right about leaving her alone for very long. It seems like lately, it's been even busier than usual, too. It seems like every day, someone else is in the hospital, or I get another call with someone requesting a counseling session."

Ben wrapped his arms around his wife. "Have you ever thought about saying you're too busy right now, and referring them to someone else when someone calls asking for a counseling session?"

Lucy leaned against Ben's chest. "I hate doing that. I feel like I'm letting people down when I tell them that I'm too busy. Often when I refer them to someone else, they say that they don't feel comfortable seeing anyone except for me and Chandler. What am I supposed to do then? I can't just turn people away."

"Maybe you should try seeing if Chandler can do some counseling sessions at home. That way he can still be with Roxanne in case she needs anything, but it will also take some of the load off of you. You're going to wear yourself out, Luce, and that's not healthy."

Lucy looked up at Ben and smiled. "I know. I'll talk to Chandler and see if we can't work something out. I'll try to slow down and spend more time at home. I really do miss spending time with you and the girls, and I hate imposing on Mom or the others so much to watch the girls and Eric when we're both working."

"Okay," Ben replied, placing a kiss on Lucy's cheek. "Now you'd better run so you're not late. I have to work today, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Only a 24 hour shift today?" Lucy asked.

Ben nodded.

"Good," said Lucy, "I'm glad, I hate it when you have to work 48 hour shifts, even if it does mean more days off."

"No more than I do, sweetheart. I don't like being away from you and the girls that long," Ben said, walking Lucy to the door. "Have a good day. I'll try to call you tonight to say goodnight to the girls if I get a chance. I'll drop them off at Mom's on my way to work."

"Okay, thanks. Be careful at work, okay? Come home safe," Lucy said, giving Ben a kiss. "Love you!" she said as she walked out the door.

"I will. Love you, too," Ben replied, watching Lucy walk out and get in her car. Once she pulled out of the driveway, Ben closed the door and walked to Savannah and Erin's room.

"Annah, Erin, time to wake up girls!" Ben called. He went over to Savannah's bed and sat down of the edge of it. "Good morning, munchkin," he said, giving her a kiss on the top of her head, which was about eh only part of her that wasn't covered up with her bedspread.

Savannah rolled over and pulled the covers down. "Good morning, Daddy," she said sleepily.

Ben smiled. He loved hearing the girls and Eric call him Daddy, but he especially enjoyed hearing Savannah say it. Erin had started calling him Daddy just a few months after he and Lucy married, and the twins, of course, had copied their big sister, but Savannah had called him Ben until a just a few months ago. Kevin's death had been the hardest on her, of course, since she was old enough to remember him. Although Erin remembered him, too, it wasn't quite as hard on her, since she was so young when Kevin had died.

"Come on, it's time to get up or you're going to make me late for work," Ben said, standing up and helping Savannah pull the covers back the rest of the way.

Once she was up and headed to the bathroom, Ben went over to Erin's bed and sat down on the edge of it. Erin was always the hardest one to wake up, so he figured if he started now, then left to get the twins up, she should be up by the time he finished helping them get dressed.

"Erin, it's time to wake up, sleepyhead."

Erin, just as Ben had known she would, rolled over to face the wall and pulled her covers over her head. He smiled, but pulled the covers back down. "Come on, Erin. You need to get up or you're going to make me late for work."

"Daddy!" Erin groaned. "I'm still tired."

"I know, but it's time to get up. Annah's already up. I'm going to go wake Eric and Allison up and help them get ready, and if you're not up and getting ready when I come back, you're going to be in trouble, young lady."

Ben walked down the hall to the twins' room. As he had expected, both of them were lying in their beds wide awake, waiting for either him or Lucy to come get them and let them know they could get up.

"Good morning, kiddos," Ben said as he turned on the light in their room.

Allison and Eric both immediately sat up in their beds. "Good morning, Daddy," they replied together.

Allison held out her arms to Ben, and he walked over to her bed, sat down on the edge, and pulled her into his lap. He was greeted with a hug, as he knew he would be. Allison was the most affectionate of the four kids, and always greeted whoever got her up with a big hug.

"Good morning, Sunshine," Ben said, using the nickname he'd given to Allison when she was only a few months old because she was almost always smiling. He gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "Mommy left for work already, but Annah's already up. Why don't you take your clothes that Mommy laid out for you and go see if Annah will help you get ready," he suggested. Savannah and Allison were very close, and Allison loved having Savannah help her get ready in the mornings, and Savannah was more than happy to oblige.

"Okay, Daddy," she replied, giving him another hug, and then jumping down from his lap. She grabbed the clothes that Lucy had laid out for her the night before, and went off down the hall to find Savannah.

Ben got up off of Allison's bed and went over to sit on the edge of Eric's bed. "Good morning, little man," he said, pulling him into his lap like he had done with Allison.

"Hi, Daddy. Is Erin up yet?" he asked hopefully.

Ben smiled. Eric and Erin had a special relationship much like Savannah and Allison's. Eric was one of the only people that could get Erin out of bed without complaint.

"I don't know. I woke her up before I came in to get you and Allison, and I told her to get up. Why don't you go run and see if she obeyed?"

Eric's face lit up with a smile, and he nodded his head eagerly. He jumped out of Ben's arms and ran down the hall to Savannah and Erin's room.

Ben laughed. Eric hadn't walked anywhere since he had learned to run. He and Lucy had to constantly remind him to walk, not run.

Since he knew that Savannah would help Allison get ready, and Eric would make sure that Erin was up and then got get himself ready, Ben went out to the kitchen to start getting breakfast ready. He looked at the clock, and realizing that if they took time to sit down and eat a bowl of cereal he would be late for work, he grabbed the cereal bars that Lucy always kept on hand for days like this, as well as four bananas, one for each kid, and threw them in a bag. He would have Savannah hand them out in the car on the way to Annie's house. He knew that once that got there, Annie would probably insist on making them pancakes or waffles once she found out that all they'd had for breakfast was a cereal bar and a banana.

Savannah and Allison came out into the kitchen. "We're ready to go, Daddy," Savannah announced. She and Allison were dressed in matching outfits, and she was carrying the backpack containing her and Allison's stuff, including snacks, a few games and books, and a change of clothes for each of them, as well as a pair of pajamas, just in case something came up and they had to spend the night at their grandma's house.

"Okay. Are Erin and Eric ready to go yet?" he asked.

"I'm ready, Daddy," Eric said, coming into the kitchen carrying a backpack identical to Savannah's. His backpack contained all of the same stuff for him and Erin. "Erin's going potty, and then she'll be ready," he said, very matter-of-factly.

Ben smiled. Eric reminded him so much of Kevin, in the way he looked, in the way he acted, and in the way he spoke. "Okay, little man. Savannah, go ahead and help the twins get in the car for me, please. I'll wait for Erin to finish up, and then we'll be out."

"Okay, Daddy," Savannah replied.

At almost eleven years old, Savannah was very mature for her age, probably due in large part to the death of her dad when she was just five. Lucy and Ben hadn't gotten married until she was eight, and since Lucy had had her hands full with the twins and Erin, Savannah had learned very quickly to help her mom and to take care of herself. Although it had been hard on her at first when her Mom and Uncle Ben had gotten married, she had soon gotten used to the idea, and enjoyed having Uncle Ben around all the time. It had taken her nearly a year to stop calling him "Uncle Ben," and up until a few months ago, she had just called him "Ben," but she now called him "Daddy" and never acted as though he wasn't her real dad, although, unlike her siblings, who didn't remember their real dad, or, as was the case with the twins, had never met him, she remembered him quite vividly, and still talked about him often, something that Ben and Lucy both encouraged.

"I'm ready, Daddy," Erin said, skipping into the kitchen.

"Okay, kiddo. Come on, let's go. We've got to hurry or I'm going to be late for work," Ben said, rushing her out the door.

Before long, the kids had been dropped off at Annie's house and Ben was on his way to work. He was so thankful that it was summertime and he didn't have to worry about dropping Erin and Savannah off at school or he definitely would have been late to work.

Lucy sighed. She was exhausted, and the day wasn't even half over yet. He head was pounding, and she was feeling rather nauseous, so she laid her head down on her desk for a minute to rest.

"Lucy," someone called. She felt them place their hand on her shoulder and gently shake her. "Lucy, wake up."

Lucy sat up and blinked her eyes a couple of time in an effort to wake up, and then looked at the clock. "Oh no," she groaned. "I fell asleep." She looked up to see who had woken her up, and saw Chandler standing on the other side of her desk. "When did you get here?" she asked.

"Oh, about an hour or so ago. You were out when I got here, and looked exhausted, so I decided to let you sleep," he replied.

"What about my counseling session? I was supposed to meet with a lady half an hour ago!"

"She called and cancelled shortly after I got here. She said that something else had come up, and she would call back sometime to reschedule."

Lucy sighed. "Thanks, Chandler."

"No problem," he replied, perching on the edge of her desk. "Now, do you want to explain to me why you're so tired that you fell asleep here at your desk?"

"I just laid my head on my desk for a minute because my head was hurting. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Well, you did. And despite getting over an hour of sleep, you still look exhausted. What's going on, Lucy?"

"Nothing's going on. I've just been really busy lately, that's all."

"Lucy, Ben called here about twenty minutes ago. I told him that you were sleeping, and he asked if you'd talked to me yet. Lucy, you could have told me that you were so busy. I could have come in to help out."

"Roxanne needs you right now, Chandler. I didn't want to take you away from her. I can handle everything here," Lucy said emphatically.

"Lucy, you fell asleep on your desk. Whether or not you meant to, you were obviously tired enough that you ended up falling asleep."

Lucy sighed. "Chandler, I can handle everything here. I've handled everything fine so far, haven't I?"

"Lucy, have you looked at yourself in the mirror recently? You look exhausted. From what Ben's told me, it sounds like you've been running yourself ragged these past few weeks, ever since Roxanne was put on bed rest and I cut back on everything so I could stay home with her." Chandler would have gone on, but Lucy cut him off.

"There's only two more weeks until the baby's due; I can handle everything here for those two weeks. I know exactly how Roxanne is feeling right now; I was on bed rest for the last few months of my pregnancy with Savannah. I wouldn't have made it without Mom, and a lot of times, Dad and Kevin, there to help me with whatever I needed. Right now Roxanne needs you to be there with her more than I need your help here at the church."

"Fine; I'll try to come in for a couple of hours every day. Annie's with Roxanne now. The twins are down for their naps right now, and Erin and Savannah are watching a movie. I'll talk to Annie and see if she'd be willing to stay with Roxanne every day for a couple of hours so I can come in and help you out; I'm sure she won't object. I can do some counseling sessions at home, too, which will take some of that load off of you, and when I take Roxanne in for her doctor's visits each week, I can do some of the hospital visits."

Lucy sighed. She knew there was no way she was going to win this argument. "Okay, that works, but if something comes up and you can't come in, or you don't feel comfortable leaving Roxanne, just call and let me know, and I'll work it out."

"Okay, I'll do that." Chandler looked at his watch. "I should probably get home now, but call me if you need anything." Chandler started to leave, and then stopped. "Oh, Ben wants you to call him back when you have time."

"Okay, thanks, Chandler," Lucy replied. She picked up the phone and dialed the station number. It rang a couple times, and then someone picked up.

"Station 14, Firefighter Kinkirk speaking."

"Hi Ben, it's Lucy."

"Hi Sweetie, I take it Chandler gave you my message?"

"Yes, he did, what did you need?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to call and check up on you. Chandler said you were sleeping when eh got there; how long were you sleeping?"

"I don't know exactly. I just laid my head down on my desk because I had a headache and wasn't feeling very well, and the next thing I knew, Chandler was waking me up."

"You're not feeling well?" Ben asked, concern filling his voice. "What's wrong?"

"I'm feeling fine now. I was feeling kind of nauseous earlier, but I think it was because I had a headache."

"Maybe you should go home and take the rest of the day off, Luce," Ben said, sounding worried.

Lucy smiled. "I'm fine, Ben. I'll try to leave a little early tonight, if that will make you feel better."

"I'm just worried about you, Luce. You look so tired and worn out, and now you said you're not feeling well, I just don't want you to get sick."

"I'm fine, Ben," Lucy replied. She heard a knock on the doorway to her office and looked up. Her next counseling appointment was standing in the doorway. She motioned for them to come in, then told Ben, 'My next appointment's here; I've got to go. I'll call you when I get home, okay? I love you."

"Okay, love you too," Ben replied.

Lucy yawned as she walked out to her car. She didn't know why she'd been so tired recently. Maybe Ben and Chandler were right, maybe she was working too hard. Once Roxanne had the baby, she'd see about taking a few days off. Maybe Ben could see about putting in for some vacation time, too, and they could spend some time together as a family.

Before long, Lucy had arrived at her mom's house. She got out of her car and went into the house. "Mom? I'm here," she called as she walked into the kitchen.

Annie came walking in from the living room. "Hi, Lucy. The kids are upstairs playing. They were angels today, as usual. Do you want to stay for dinner? Savannah said that Ben's working today. I have dinner in the oven right now. I wasn't expecting you to get here so early, so I made extra."

"I was able to leave a little early today. As tempting as staying for dinner sounds, I think I'll pass on it for tonight. Right now I just want to go home, feed the kids their dinner, and put them to bed, then sit down and relax for a little bit before going to bed myself."

"Are you sure? Ruthie, Peter, Mary, and Carlos are coming over with their kids."

"As tempting as seeing all of them sounds, I really just want to get home. It's been a long day, and I'm tired, plus, I told Ben I'd call when I got home."

"Okay, if I can't convince you to stay, why don't you at least leave the kids here? Let them spend the night tonight. It's Friday, which means that Sam and David will be home for the weekend, and you know how much they enjoy seeing the kids."

"Are you sure? You've had them all day; I feel bad asking you to keep them longer," Lucy said.

"You're not the one that asked; I was. Come on, they love spending the night here, especially when Sam and David are home."

"Mommy, do we get to spend the night here at Grandma's house?" Erin asked, her eyes shining with excitement. Eric, as always, was right behind her, and he looked just as excited.

"Do you want to?" Lucy asked, even though she already knew what the answer would be.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" shouted Eric, jumping up and down.

Lucy laughed. "Eric Kevin Kinkirk, if you don't settle down and use your inside voice, I'm going to take you home and just let the boys spend the night at Grandma's house."

"I'll be quiet," Eric whispered. "I promise," he said, looking very solemn and serious.

Savannah and Allison had come down when they heard Eric yelling, and they, too, were excited at being able to spend the night at Grandma's.

"Okay then, you can all spend the night here, but you have to promise to be good. If you're bad, then Grandma's going to call and I'll come get you, understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," four voices replied in unison.

"Okay, give me hugs and kisses, okay? Daddy will pick you up tomorrow after he gets some sleep, okay?"

"Lucy, why don't you let them stay here until Sunday?" Annie asked as the kids told Lucy goodbye. "The boys and I will bring them to church with us. It will give you and Ben some time alone."

"I don't know, Mom, are you sure?" Lucy asked

"Please, Mommy, can we spend tomorrow night at Grandma's, too?" Allison asked.

"It will be fine, Lucy. The boys will be here to help, and if I have any problems, I'll give you a call. Now go home and get some rest. We'll see you on Sunday," Annie said, ushering Lucy towards the door. "And don't worry about dropping extra clothes off for them; I have extras here that they can wear."

"Okay, thanks, Mom. See you on Sunday," Lucy said, walking out the door.

When she got home, she sat down on the couch, meaning to just sit there a minute before getting up and making herself something to eat and calling Ben, but she was soon fast asleep.

Ben smiled as he hung up the station phone. He had just gotten off the phone with Annie, and he was pretty sure he now knew why Lucy hadn't called when she got home. He was almost positive that since Annie was keeping the kids, Lucy had gone home, sat down on the couch, and fallen asleep.

"Did you get a hold of your wife yet, Kinkirk?" his captain, Captain Stevens, asked him.

"No, Sir, but I got I called my mother-in-law, and Lucy went there to pick up the kids, but Mom convinced her to let them spend the next two nights there, so more than likely she went home and fell asleep on the couch without meaning to," Ben replied.

His captain looked concerned. "She looked pretty tired last time I saw her, is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine; she's just been working too hard lately. The other pastor at her church hasn't been able to do as much lately. His wife's about eight months pregnant with their first child and is on total bed rest, so he's had to stay home with her lately."

"Just wondering, I though maybe there was a chance that she could be…" Captain Stevens started to say something, and then changed his mind. "Never mind."

"Could be what, Cap?" Ben asked.

"Could be pregnant," his captain replied after a few minutes.

Ben looked at his captain in shock. "P-p-pregnant?" he sputtered.

Captain Stevens laughed. "I was just jumping to conclusions. I'm sure it's just like you said, she's just been working a lot lately, so she's more tired. Don't look so scared, Kinkirk."

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A/N: So, waht do you think? Should Lucy be pregnant? I haven't decided yet...let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: I am sooo sorry for making y'all wait so long for this chapter! I feel horrible! I will try to update more often, but I am working 60 hours a week right now, so I can't promise anything...Please Read and Review!

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"Lucy?" Ben called softly as he entered the house. If she was still sleeping, he didn't want to wake her up. When he didn't get an answer, he checked the living room to see if she was still asleep on the couch. She wasn't there, so he started to walk towards the bedroom, but stopped when he heard the toilet in the kids' bathroom flush. A minute later, Lucy walked out and almost bumped into him before she saw him.

"Ben! When did you get home?" she asked.

"A couple of minutes ago. I called your name but you didn't answer."

"Oh," Lucy replied. "I must not have heard you."

Ben frowned. Lucy's face looked flushed, and she had her arm wrapped around her stomach. "Are you okay?" he asked, reaching out his hand to feel her forehead.

She pulled away before he could. "I'm fine," she lied.

"Lucy," Ben said sternly, "you are not fine. Your face is flushed, and you're holding your stomach. Now what's wrong?"

Lucy opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, she covered her mouth with her hand and rushed back into the bathroom. Ben followed her in, and found her leaning over the toilet, getting sick. He knelt down beside her and brushed her hair out of her face, rubbing her back. When she was done getting sick, she leaned back against him and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Now do you want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know," Lucy replied weakly. "I just don't feel well."

Ben felt Lucy's forehead. "You don't have a fever," he said, surprised. "Let's get you into bed," he said firmly. When Lucy didn't argue, he knew that she must really be sick. She never took a nap in the middle of the day unless she wasn't feeling well.

Ben helped Lucy stand up, then he picked her up and carried her into their room, laying her on the bed. He covered her up with a blanket, then leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Get some rest, Luce."

A few hours later, Ben was in the kitchen making some soup to take to Lucy. He opened up the trashcan to throw the can away, and found it was full, so he emptied it. When went to pull the bag out of the can, the bag tore, spilling trash all over the floor. "Oh, great," he groaned. He got down and started picking up the trash.

Ben had the trash almost all picked up when he came across a small rectangular box. He picked it up and was about to throw it away when he heard something rattling around inside of it. Something had spilt on the outside of the box and smeared the printing on the outside of the box, leaving it unable to be read. Curious, he opened it up, and found a stick with a small window in it that showed what looked like a plus sign. Next to that small window was some writing. The writing read "not pregnant" and below that was one line. Beside those words were the words "pregnant" and below that was a plus sign.

Ben dropped the stick in shock, realizing what it was. It was a pregnancy test. Lucy was pregnant. "Why didn't she tell me?" he wondered aloud.

"Tell you what?" Lucy asked, causing Ben to jump. He hadn't heard her come into the kitchen.

"N-n-nothing," he stammered.

Lucy smiled. "You're not a very good liar, Ben Kinkirk."

Ben slowly reached down, picked up the pregnancy test, and handed it to Lucy. "Why didn't you tell me that you were pregnant?" he asked.

Lucy laughed. "Because I'm not pregnant, that's why. This isn't mine; it's Ruthie's. She thought that she might be pregnant, but she didn't want Peter to know until she was sure, so she asked if she could take it while she was here visiting the other day," she explained.

Ben looked first relieved, then disappointed. "So you're not pregnant?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, I'm not. Did you think I was?"

"Well, you've been so tired recently, and then you were getting sick this morning, and you said you didn't feel well yesterday, so when I found the pregnancy test…"

Lucy laughed. She realized now how everything must have looked to Ben. "I'm not pregnant, don't worry. If I were pregnant, I would have told you about it."

"Well, when you were pregnant with the twins, you waited until you were almost three months along to tell Kevin, and you'd known for quite awhile."

"That was different. Kevin was so busy that I hardly ever saw him, and never had a chance to tell him until then because he was working so much. If I'd had a chance to tell him before that, I would have. I wasn't hiding it from him on purpose," Lucy explained.

"So there's no chance that you could be pregnant?" Ben said.

"No," Lucy said slowly. "At least I don't think so…Why? Did you want me to be pregnant?" she asked.

"Well, I wouldn't be against. I mean, when I first thought that maybe you could be pregnant, I was kind of scared, but then I was excited. I love Savannah, Erin, Allison, and Eric like they're my own, but I do wonder what it'd be like to have a child that is my own. Not that I'd love that child any more than the others, but…" Ben broke off before completing his though, unsure of exactly what to say, and wondering if he'd said too much.

Lucy knelt down in front of where Ben was still kneeling amongst the remainder of the trash that needed to be cleaned up. "Ben, why didn't you tell me this before?" she asked, placing a hand on his arm.

"I don't know. I wasn't sure how you'd react, and I know that with all of your pregnancies, but especially with the twins, you had a lot of problems. I do want us to have a baby, but not if it means that I'd lose you."

"Oh, Ben," Lucy said, taking his hands in hers and looking directly into his eyes, "you should have told me. I didn't think you wanted anymore kids, so I hadn't said anything to you even though I'd be thinking about it for awhile. And as far as all the problems I had, well, that's just something that we'll have to deal with. If you're really that worried about it, we could talk to Matt and see what he thinks."

"Really?" Ben asked. "When?"

"Well, I could call Matt right now and see when he has some time free. Sarah and the kids are out of town visiting her parents right now, so maybe we could invite him over for dinner tonight if we can't get an appointment with him."

"I love you, Lucy Kinkirk," Ben said, leaning forward to give his wife a kiss.

Ding-dong!

"I'll get it," Lucy told Ben. "That's probably Matt."

Matt had been booked for the next couple of months, so he had agreed to come over for dinner. Although Lucy didn't tell him exactly what she and Ben wanted to talk to him about, he had a pretty good idea what it was.

"Hi, Lucy," Matt said when Lucy opened the door.

"Matt!" Lucy stepped back to let him come inside, then once he was inside, she gave him a hug, then left him to the kitchen, where Ben was waiting.

"Hey, Matt," Ben greeted him as Matt and Lucy walked into the kitchen.

"Hi, Ben. Dinner smells delicious; is it ready yet? I'm starved!"

Lucy laughed. "Yes, it's ready; we were just waiting for you to get here."

Once they had started eating, Matt asked, "So, what did you want to talk to me about? I have an idea, but I'm not positive."

"Well, what do you think it is?" Lucy asked.

"Are you pregnant?"

Lucy laughed. "You're the second person today that's asked me that! No, I'm not pregnant, not yet, anyways. Did you think that's why we asked you to come over?"

"Well, yes," Matt admitted. "Okay, then, if you're not pregnant, then why did you ask me to come over?"

"Because Lucy and I want to have a baby, but with all the problems she had with Savannah, Erin, and the twins, I'm not sure that's really the best idea," Ben answered for Lucy.

"Oh, I see," Matt said. "Lucy does have a history of high-risk pregnancies, so there's always a risk of something going wrong."

"Yes, but we already know that. What we're asking is if it would be dangerous for her to have more kids," Ben said, getting frustrated.

Lucy put a hand on Ben's arm. "Ben, calm down. Give Matt a chance to explain."

Ben sighed, but kept quiet.

"Ben, Lucy, I'm going to be honest with you. I didn't expect you to make it through your pregnancy with the twins. However, you proved me wrong, and went on to deliver two very healthy, happy babies with absolutely no complications. Yes, there were a few scares, such as your excessive swelling which resulted in bed rest, and the hole in Eric's heart that ended up closing up on his own before he was born, but you and the babies made it through the pregnancy just fine." Matt paused for a moment, and then went on. "I don't see a problem with Lucy having more kids. As long as she's careful she should be fine."

"Really?" Lucy asked, surprised. She had been prepared for Matt to tell her that she shouldn't have any more kids, that it would be too risky, so to hear him give her the okay was a definite surprise.

"Yes," Matt replied, "however, I do have one rule: if you do get pregnant, please have this baby in the hospital! You had Savannah in an elevator, Erin at the church, and the twins here at home. Do you think you could manage to make it to the hospital to have this one?"

Ben and Lucy laughed. "I'll do my best," Lucy replied.

When Matt arrived home later that night, the light on the answering machine was blinking to let him know there was a message. He dropped his keys on the counter, and then pressed the button to listen to the message.

"Hi Matt, it's Sarah. Dad took the boys out today to go fishing and then go to dinner, and Mom had to run some errands, so I thought I'd call and see what you were doing. I guess you are either working late or went over to your mom's for dinner. Give me a call back when you get this message. I love you!"

Matt picked up the phone and dialed Sarah's cell phone number.

"Hi, Matt," Sarah answered

"Hi, darling. How's everything going at your Mom and Dad's?"

"It's going well. Mom and Dad are spoiling the boys like crazy, of course, but they're having the time of their lives!"

"Who, the boys or your parents?" Matt asked.

"Both of them!" Sarah laughed

Matt chuckled. "I figured as much. How about you? Are you having the time of your life, too?"

"The only thing that would make it better is if you were here, too," Sarah replied. "I miss you."

Matt walked into the living room and sat down in the chair. "I miss you, too, but you'll be back in a couple of days."

"Well, actually, that's part of the reason why I called," Sarah said hesitantly.

"Oh, really? I'm not sure I'm going to like this," Matt said, half joking, half serious.

"Mom and Dad want the boys and me to stay longer-" Sarah began.

"Sarah, I know that you're enjoying your time with your parents, but I miss you. I was looking forward to picking you, Keller, and Liam up from the airport on Monday," Matt said disappointedly.

"Matt, will you let me finish?" Sarah asked. "I told them that I couldn't stay any longer, that I missed you and really didn't want to be away from you any longer. They understood, but then they asked if they could keep the boys here for another week, and then they'd fly back with the boys, visit everyone there for a couple of weeks, then fly back here to New York. I told them that I'd have to check with you."

"Well, it does sound like a good idea, and it'd give us some time to ourselves, but are you sure the boys are old enough?"

"Matt, they're nine years old. They're plenty old enough. It's just for a week, and Mom and Dad would be flying back with them, so it's not like they'd be flying back by themselves. You have to let them grow up sometime," Sarah chided.

"Well, I guess it's okay, then. Are you sure your parents can handle it? They're not exactly young anymore, Sarah."

Sarah laughed. "Matt, my parents still act as young as ever. They may be older, but they sure don't act like it. They can handle the boys for a week."

"If you're sure, and you're okay with it, then it's fine with me."

"My parents will be thrilled!" Sarah said excitedly. "This will give us a little bit of a break, too. I know that once Roxanne has the baby, your Mom will have to move to the garage apartment, and she won't be able to keep the boys overnight as often."

"I know. That's going to be really hard on Mom; she's always loved having her grandchildren stay over at her house. Sam and David won't be able to come home on the weekends anymore either because there's only one bedroom in the apartment. I wonder if she'll stay there, or if she'll look for someplace else to live."

"Matt, do you think there's any chance that your mom could ever get remarried?" Sarah asked.

"I doubt it. It would take someone pretty special to win Mom's heart. I know that she loved Dad a lot, and she still misses him."

"Lucy loved Kevin a lot, and I know that she still misses him, too, but she married Ben," Sarah pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but Lucy and Kevin weren't married that long."

"Matt, they were married for ten years before Kevin died. That's not exactly a short amount of time," Sarah reminded him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just hard to remember that Lucy and Kevin were married for that long. But still, I can't see Mom getting remarried."

Annie had just finished putting Savannah to bed when the phone rang. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hi, Annie, it's Ryan. I know that it's kind of late to be calling, but I was wondering if you had plans for tomorrow after church." It was Captain Ryan Stevens. He and Annie had gotten to be very good friends through Ben.

"No, I don't," Annie replied. "Ben and Lucy invited me over for lunch, but I told them that I'd let them know tomorrow."

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go out for lunch with me tomorrow."

"I would love to," Annie replied. "Where are we going?"

Ryan laughed. "That's for me to know, and you to find out tomorrow."

"Ryan!" Annie protested. "I have to know where we're going so I can know what to wear."

"Whatever you wear to church will be fine. I'll see you tomorrow at church, then. Goodnight, Annie."

"Goodnight, Ryan," Annie replied, then hung up the phone. She stood there for a moment thinking, then she picked up the phone again and dialed Lucy's number.

"Hello?" Lucy answered.

"Hi Lucy, it's Mom."

"Mom! Is everything okay with the children?" Lucy asked, concerned.

"Yes, everything's fine. That's not the reason I called. I called because I wanted to let you and Ben know that I won't be able to make it for lunch tomorrow. Ryan called and asked me to go out to lunch with him."

"He finally asked you out? That's great!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Yes, he did," Annie replied. She was relieved that Lucy was excited. She wasn't sure what her children would think of their mom going out on a date. "The only thing is, it's been so long since I've been on a date that I'm not sure what to wear. Ryan said that whatever I wear to church is fine, but…" Annie trailed off.

Lucy laughed. "I'll give be over to help you find something in a little bit."

Before Annie could say anything, Lucy hung up. Annie breathed a sigh of relief. She was nervous about the date, and wanted to look absolutely perfect. It would be a relief to have Lucy helping her get ready.

Ten minutes later, Annie heard the door to the kitchen open. "Mom, I'm here," Lucy called out softly, so as not to wake the kids.

Annie went into the kitchen. Not only was Lucy there, but so was Ruthie.

"Hi, Mom," Ruthie greeted her cheerfully. "I'm so excited! I was wondering when Captain Stevens would finally ask you out. I was on the phone with Lucy when you called, and after you got off, she told me about your date and that she was coming over to help you. I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to tag along," Ruthie explained.

Annie smiled. "Of course I don't mind. But is there anyone else I should be expecting to show up?"

Lucy laughed. "Ruthie and Ben are the only ones I told, and Ben knows not to say anything."

"I told Peter, but he knows not to say anything. Don't worry, Mom, we'll leave telling the rest of the family to you. Now let's go see what we have to work with."

Annie followed Lucy and Ruthie up to her room. "How do you think the rest of the family will take the news that I'm going out on a date?"

Ruthie and Lucy looked at each other, neither one of them wanting to answer.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get a new chapter up! I just haven't had time to write until recently. I should have a lot more free time now that the holidays are over, so I will try to get more chapters up soon! I hope you all haven't forgotten about this story...I'm still trying to decide exactly where to go with it. Please R & R!

* * *

"Mom, are you going to Ben and Lucy's for lunch today?" Matt questioned. The Sunday morning service had just concluded, and the whole Camden family, minus Lucy, was standing in the lobby, waiting for Lucy to finish up in her office.

"No, not today," Annie replied. "I'm going out to eat today."

This piqued Mary's interest. "Oh, really? Are you going alone?

Fortunately, Lucy joined them just in time to hear the question, "If you're coming to my house for dinner, we'd better get going. If we wait too much longer, the kids are going to start getting crabby," she said.

This distracted the others from Annie, and she flashed Lucy a grateful look before slipping away without the other noticing. She hurried to her car and found Captain Stevens standing there waiting.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting so long, Ryan. I had a hard time getting away from the family," she apologized.

"It's not a problem," Ryan replied. "I'm parked right over there, so, if you'd like, I could follow you to your house and then from there you could ride with me to the restaurant."

"Are you sure it wouldn't be too much of a hassle? I could just follow you to the restaurant. I don't want to be too much of a hassle for you."

"I wouldn't be a hassle at all," Ryan replied tenderly. "Please, Annie, I want to do this."

Twenty minutes later, they had just arrived at the Camden house. Before Annie had a chance to get out of her car, Ryan had gotten out of his SUV and opened her door. She was surprised, but pleased. She followed him back to his vehicle, where he again opened her door. Once she was inside, he closed the door and went around to get in himself.

Once they were on their way, Ryan asked, "Do your children know about this?"

"Lucy and Ruthie do, which of course means that Ben and Peter know as well. I haven't told the others yet."

"What were their reactions?" Ben questioned.

Annie sighed. "There really wasn't much of a reaction from either one of them. They both seemed happy, but neither of them really said much. I think they have mixed feelings about it. They're happy to see me going out to lunch with a guy, but at the same time, they're nervous."

Ryan looked thoughtful, but didn't say anymore until after they were seated in the restaurant.

"Annie," Ryan began, then stopped. Annie waited patiently for him to continue. "Annie, I've known you for awhile now. Being Ben's captain at the fire station has allowed me to get to know all of his family, but I feel like I've gotten to know you, especially." He stopped and ran his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture, unsure of what to say, or rather, how to say what he wanted to say. "I have a feeling that I'm going to make a complete mess of what I'm about to say, but, please, hear me out. I've enjoyed getting to know you, Annie, and you've become a good friend of mine. I was wondering, that is, I was thinking that…" He trailed off and looked so hopelessly lost that Annie couldn't help but smile.

"Ryan, it's okay. Just say what it is that you want to say," Annie encouraged gently.

"Well, I was wondering if I could see you. What I mean is, if I could…" he paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "I'd like to start seeing you on a regular basis, Annie. I'd like to date you." He rushed out all at once. "Now before you say anything, just know that if your answer is no, it won't change a thing. We can finish the meal, then I'll take you back to your house and we can act like this whole thing never happened."

Annie sat there patiently, waiting for him to finish. Once he had, she spoke. "I would like that. I have to warn you, though; it's been quite awhile since I've dated anyone. I'm sure it's not going to be like others that you've dated. After all, I have seven kids, who I'm sure you know by now, can be quite…" she trailed off, not knowing exactly what words with which to describe them.

"Nosy?" Ryan supplied. "Opinionated? Crazy? Annie, that doesn't matter to me. I love your family. I think that despite their nosy, opinionated craziness, they are quite delightful. As you know, I was never married, so I never had kids. I, instead, got the task of spoiling my nieces and nephews rotten," he joked, causing Annie to smile. "I enjoy being around them. And as far as not having dated for awhile, that is not a problem. I don't have much experience with it myself, as you can tell by my blundering. We can both learn together."

"I'm not sure what my family's reaction to this will be. It may take them awhile to get used to the fact that I'm dating again, especially Sam and David. They were still in middle school when Eric died."

"Annie Camden," Ryan joked, "if I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to come up with reasons not to date me."

Annie looked mortified. "Oh, Ryan, that's not the case at all! I just felt it right to warn you about what you were getting yourself into."

"Annie, it's okay. I was just joking. And you don't have to worry about a thing. I love your family. It's big, and they're loud, and nosy, and crazy, but I love them all the same. If it takes them awhile to adjust to you dating again, then that's fine. I can deal with that. We can take it slow until they get used to it. Although, I have to say, we've known each other for four years now. I've eaten countless meals with you at Ben and Lucy's, been over for Sunday dinners at your house, and spent time with you as a friend. I don't think this is going to go all that slow."

Annie smiled. "I was thinking the same thing. There's a lot that we already know about each other, and we're both older, so I wasn't anticipating it going slow, either."

After Annie and Ryan finished their meal, they went back to Annie's house. As they sat in the living room, Ryan asked, "Annie, what about Eric? I mean, he died eight years ago, is it still hard for you when you think about him?"

Annie got a thoughtful look on her face. "Yes, in some ways it is. I still miss him. We were married for over thirty years, and we were just as in love the day he died as the day we got married. What I had with Eric was great, but he's gone now, and it's time for me to move on. I can't spend the rest of my life mourning for him. So, if what you're asking is if his memory is going to interfere at all with our relationship, the answer is no. There's still going to be times where I think of him, and miss him, of course, and there's going to be some days that are harder than others, such as his birthday, our anniversary, and the day that he died, but it's not something that I constantly think about anymore, not like the first couple of years he was gone."

"What about your kids? Are they going to feel like you're betraying their dad by dating me?"

"I think they're pretty much old enough now that they're not going to react that way, and it has been eight years, so, no, I don't think that will be a problem," Annie assured him.

Before Ryan had a chance to say anything more, they heard the kitchen door open.

"Mom? I'm back from Lucy's," Sam called. "David went over to Leah's for lunch."

Sam walked into the living room, and stopped when he saw Ryan and Annie sitting on the couch together. He stood looking at them for a moment, then said, "I didn't know you were coming over today, Ryan. Mom, is this who you went out to eat with?"

From the tone of Sam's voice, Annie couldn't tell how he felt about it. She answered slowly, "Yes, it is."

"Does anyone else know about this?" Sam asked.

"Lucy, Ben, Ruthie, and Peter know," Annie replied.

"Oh, so when were you planning on telling the rest of us?" Sam demanded.

"Sam…" Annie sighed. "I wasn't trying to keep this a secret from any of you. Ryan called me up last night and asked if I wanted to go to lunch with him this afternoon, and I said yes. I called Lucy up to ask her to come over and help me pick something out to wear, and she told Ruthie because they were on the phone at the time, and, of course, they both told their husbands."

Ryan spoke up then, "I think it'd be best for me to leave now so that you two can talk. I'll call you tonight," he told Annie.

Once Ryan had left, Annie asked Sam, "Is everyone else still over at Lucy's?"

Sam nodded. "I was the first one to leave."

"Well, to avoid having to explain this seven times, why don't we both go over to Lucy's? I'll explain everything when we get there."

"What about David? He should know, too," Sam said accusingly.

"I know that, and I'll tell him when he gets home. Sam, I'm really not trying to keep this a secret from any of you."

Sam didn't reply, instead, he turned and walked back towards the kitchen. Annie sighed, then got up and followed him. Together, they walked in silence over to Lucy's.

When Annie and Sam arrived, Lucy was surprised. "Hi, Mom. I didn't think you were coming over at all today."

"Well, I wasn't planning to, but I need to talk to all of you, and I figured it would be best if I did it as soon as possible," Annie explained.

Lucy nodded, understanding exactly what Annie needed to talk to them about. "Almost everyone's out back, except for Cecilia and Rose. They're in the kitchen cleaning up from lunch." Lucy stated. She paused, then asked, "Did you want everyone to be there, or just the seven, well, six, since David isn't here, of us?"

Annie thought for a moment, then replied, "I think just the six of you would probably be best. After all, someone needs to watch the kids."

"Okay. I'll go round everyone up. We can talk in the living room," Lucy stated, walking towards the back door. A few minutes later she was back with Matt, Mary, Simon, and Ruthie following.

"What's up, Mom? Luce said you wanted to talk to all of us. Is something wrong?" Matt asked once they were all sitting down.

Annie sighed and took a minute to think about what to say. "No, nothing's wrong, but I do have something to tell you all." She took a deep breath, then rushed out, "I'm seeing someone."

"What?" "Who?" "Since when?"

Everyone started talking at once, and question were flying so fast Annie couldn't tell who was saying what, or even make out what was being said. Finally, Matt held up his hands.

"Okay, everyone, she can't explain or answer any of our questions if we're all talking over each other. Let's slow down and let her explain," Matt instructed. Once everyone had settled down, he turned to Annie and waited for her to speak.

"You all know him, quite well in fact. It's Captain Stevens, Ben's captain. And he just asked me today if he could date me. We went out after church and ate lunch together, and that's when he asked me. I know that this is probably a shock to all of you. I know that it's going to take you all some time to get used to me dating someone, but please understand that I'm not trying to hurt any of you or betray your father's memory. No one can ever replace Eric, but I feel that it's time for me to start moving on with my life. It's been eight years since he died, and I know that he's want me to be happy." Annie stopped and looked around the room, waiting for a reaction.

Lucy was the first to say something. "I think it's great, Mom. We can't, and shouldn't, expect you to stay single for the rest of your life. You deserve as much of a chance to be happy as any of us. Like you said, it's been eight years since Dad died, and that's longer than it was after Kevin got killed before Ben and I got married. I'm happy for you. Captain Stevens is a great guy."

"Lucy's right. It was wrong of us to ever assume that you would just stay single for the rest of your life. It's just hard for us to imagine you with anyone other than Dad. It's not that we're not happy for you, I think it's just come as a shock to all of us," Simon said.

Matt nodded. "We really are happy for you, Mom. We're not mad, we just didn't expect this. I don't think we've ever thought about the thought that you would one day start dating."

"Why didn't you tell us that it was Captain Stevens that you were going out to eat with? Why all the secrecy? Were you going to hide it from us? If I hadn't walked in on you and the captain, when would you have told us?" Sam asked, his tone accusatory.

Annie sighed. "I didn't want you all to make a big deal out of my lunch with Ryan, and I know that's what would have happened if I'd told all of you about it. I wasn't trying to be secretive. And until this afternoon, there really wasn't anything going on between us; we were just friends, so there was really nothing to tell you. After Ryan asked if he could date me, I knew that I would have to tell all of you, and I was planning to. I was going to try to get everyone together at once so I didn't have to explain it multiple times, but then when Sam came home and found Ryan and I sitting on the couch talking, I knew I needed to tell all of you as soon as possible, so I figured I'd come over here and tell you today. I'm sorry if it seems like I was trying to hide this, because I wasn't. I wanted you all to know."

"How does Captain Stevens feel about all of us? I mean, we're not your typical family. For one thing there's seven of us, not to mention all the spouses and Sam and David's girlfriends, plus all the grandchildren. We can be loud and crazy, and very opinionated, not to mention nosy. Does he really know what he's getting himself into?" asked Mary, trying to lighten things up a bit.

Everyone laughed and Annie said, "I warned him about all that, and I think he's been around for enough family dinners and celebrations to know what you all are like. Despite all that, he still wants to date me."

"I think you've got yourself a keeper there, Mom. It's not often you find someone who can put up with all of us!" Ruthie proclaimed, causing everyone to laugh again. Once everyone had quieted back down, she spoke up again. "Peter and I have something that we've been wanting to tell you all, too, so do you think someone could go round up the rest of the adults? That is, if we were done discussing Mom's announcement."

Since no one said anything, Mary got up. "I'll go find everyone else and bring them in here."

A few minutes later she was back, bringing with her Ben, Peter, Carlos, Cecilia, and Rose. "Okay, we're all here now, Ruthie. What did you want to tell us?" she asked once everyone was seated.

Ruthie looked at Peter, who nodded, then said, "I'm pregnant!"

"How far along are you?" Lucy immediately wanted to know.

"About a month," Ruthie replied. "I just found out myself earlier this week, and went to see Matt the same day, just to make sure. According to him, both myself and the baby are perfectly healthy."

"Hopefully it will be a boy; the girls are starting to outnumber us!" Simon exclaimed.

"It's just payback for when we were growing up and the boys outnumbered the girls!" Lucy shot back.

"Alright, alright, let's not start a fight over a baby," Matt joked, holding up his hands. "Although I have to wonder when someone else is going to announce that they're pregnant. It seems like pregnancies always come in groups of two or three around here."

"Trying to drum up some more business for yourself, Matt?" Mary asked, jokingly.

"Hey! I was just stating a fact, although I must say it definitely wouldn't hurt business."

"Well, what about you and Sarah? Your girls are nine, isn't it about time you had a baby?" Ruthie asked.

"Sarah's going to kill me for telling you all this, but we have talked about having another one. We just haven't decided for sure if we want another one quite yet," Matt replied. He then turned to Simon and Rose. "What about you two? Last time you and Ruthie were pregnant at the same time. Care to repeat history?"

Rose laughed. "Not just yet. We just got Kaitlyn out of diapers, I think we'll wait a little bit before we have another one."

"Just so long as not everyone is pregnant at the same time! I'm not sure any of us men could handle that. Just imagine all the mood swings and cravings we'd have to deal with!" Peter said, shuddering at the thought and causing everyone to laugh.

"Wouldn't that be quite a way to welcome Captain Stevens to the family, making him put up with five pregnant women! I think that would be enough to scare any man off!" Ben exclaimed.

"Umm…I hate to interrupt this thrilling conversation, but David just texted and asked if everyone could stay here for a little while longer. He's on his way, and he said he has something to tell all of us," Sam interjected.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to upload the next chapter for this story! I had writer's black for the longest while, then I had computer issues, and then I moved and had no internet access for a couple of months. However, I am on a roll now and am determined to finish this story soon! To make up for the long wait, I've posted several chapters at once, so, enjoy, and please review!

WARNING: This chapter contains the death of a semi-major character.

* * *

"I'll get it," Lucy said at the sound of the doorbell ringing. "It's probably David." She walked to the front door and pulled it open. "Hi, Dav-" she began to say, but stopped mid-sentence. Her face grew pale as she realized who was at the door, and she sagged against the doorframe, her legs suddenly unable to support her.

"Lucy, may I come in?" Chief Michaels asked, his face grave. Lucy managed to nod, and Chief Michaels, along with Chandler, entered the house.

"Lucy? Are you okay?" Chandler asked, concerned.

Lucy nodded. "What is it? Who is it?" she asked, her voice filled with fear and dread. "Everyone that I know is here. The whole family is here," she insisted. Her mind immediately flashed back to the last time that Chief Michaels had shown up at her door. He had been bringing news of Kevin's death.

Chandler looked over the top of Lucy's head to Chief Michaels and shook his head. Chief Michaels nodded to show that he understood, then said, "Lucy, where is everyone else?"

"They're in the living room. Who is it?" she asked again. "Why won't you tell me?"

"Lucy, why don't we go into the living room? I think everyone else is going to want to hear this, too," Chandler suggested gently. Lucy nodded and led the way to the living room.

"It's about time," Matt joked when Lucy entered the room. "We were beginning to think that you'd gotten lost." When Lucy couldn't manage a smile, he noticed how pale her face was and how shaken she looked.

"Luce? What's wrong?" Ben asked, having seen the same things as Matt. He got up and started to go over to her when she spoke.

"Chandler and Chief Michaels are here," Lucy said. "They want to talk to us."

Annie let out a gasp. "No!" she cried softly. Ruthie, sitting next to her, put her arm around her mother even as her own face filled with fear and dread.

Chandler and Chief Michaels entered the room, and Chief Michaels began to speak. "There's no easy way to tell you this, so I suppose I'll just tell you straight out. David and Leah were in a car accident this afternoon. They were hit by a drunk driver."

"Are they all right?" Matt asked the question that everyone wanted to ask, but were too afraid of the answer to ask.

"I'm sorry, but David was killed instantly. Leah was still alive, and has been taken to the hospital, but I'm afraid there's not much they can do for her. Her injuries were very severe. Her mother is with her now."

Silence hung heavy in the room, only the occasional sniffle or sob broke it.

Ben was the first to speak. "Thank you, Chief. I know you could have sent one of your officers down here instead."

Chief Michaels nodded, too full of emotion himself to say anything. He'd been a close friend of the Camden family for quite awhile, and it was never easy to tell a friend that someone they loved was dead. He'd been there to tell them of Eric's death, then Kevin's, and now David's. The family had been through so much already, and here they were, being dealt another blow.

"I want to see him. Can I see him?" Annie asked.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea, Annie. His body is pretty beat up and is not in the best of shape. I think it'd be better for you to remember him the way he was rather than the way he looks now," Chief Michaels replied. "However, someone does need to come with me to identify his body. It's standard procedure," he explained.

"I'll do it," Matt announced quietly. "I'll go. I'll identify him."

"Matt, let me. I'm used to this sort of thing. In my line of work, you see a lot of victims of auto accidents. Let me go, Matt," Ben argued.

"No. He's my brother. I should be the one to go. I've seen enough victims of accidents myself, you know. I do work in a hospital."

"As an obstetrician, not an emergency room or trauma doctor, Matt! It's your own brother, it's not just another patient with a name on a chart who has no connection to you! It's different when it's family!"

"Ben! Matt! Stop arguing, please! This isn't what we need right now! We need to support each other, not fight with each other!" Lucy cried angrily. "David just died, and here you two are fighting over who should go identify his body! Don't you two get it? He's dead! David's dead! You're going to identify his body, the body of your little brother, Matt, and your brother-in-law, Ben! It's not just another unfortunate victim of an auto accident, it's David! Someone that we all knew and loved; someone that we watched grow up! Here you two arguing over who should go identify the body when it should be something that neither one of you wants to do!" Lucy broke down crying then, and Ben went over and wrapped his arms around her, comforting her.

"Shh, it's okay, Lucy. It's going to be okay. We'll all get through this, together. You're right, it was stupid of Matt and I to argue over it like David doesn't even matter to either one of us. We'll both go," Ben said, turning to Matt, who nodded in agreement.

"What about Leah? Can we see her?" Ruthie asked. "Is she conscious?" She had always liked Leah, and the two of them had become friends during the time that Leah and David had dated.

"She is conscious, although I'm not sure how coherent she is due to the severity of her injuries. I'm sure her parents would be okay with you coming." Chief Michaels sighed, not really wanting to continue, but knowing that they needed the truth. "Like I said earlier, her injuries were very severe, and there's not much they can do for her except make her comfortable and wait."

"Wait? You mean wait for her to…" Ruthie trailed off, not wanting to complete her question, hoping that maybe she was wrong.

"Yes, wait for her to die. Leah has some very severe internal injuries, and a lot of internal bleeding. Too much to do anything about. It's a miracle that she survived the accident. They told her and her parents that they could try; they could go in and repair as much damage as possible, but that it was unlikely she would survive the operation. She and her parents elected not to have the surgery. The doctors have said that it won't be too much longer before she slips into a coma, and then it will be only a matter of hours before she passes."

"I want to go see her," Ruthie announced, turning to Peter. "David would want at least one of us to be there with her."

"I want to go too," Sam said quietly, surprising everyone. His face was stoic, void of any emotion, same as it had been since Chief Michael's informed them that David was dead.

Peter nodded. "Okay, I'll take you two to the hospital. Does anyone else want to come?" When no one responded, he, Ruthie, and Sam got up, gathered their things, and left.

"Ben, Matt, I don't want to rush you, but it'd be best if you went sooner rather than later to identify the body," Chief Michaels advised.

"The body? The body? That body has a name! That body is my brother! He's not just some body lying in some morgue somewhere! He's a twenty year old boy whose life was cut short!"

Mary's outburst caused everyone to turn and stare at her. "Mary, Chief Michael's didn't mean it like that," Carlos said gently, attempting to comfort his wife.

"He was so young! Why did he have to die? He had his whole life in front of him! He died too soon!" Mary cried, tears streaming down her face.

"Mom? What's going on?" Savannah asked, causing everyone to divert their attention from Mary to her. She, along with Charlie, was standing in the doorway. "The little kids are scared cause they hear people crying and then heard Aunt Mary yelling," she explained.

Ben started to get up to go to his daughter and nephew, but Simon stopped him. "Let Rose and me handle this. We have more experience dealing with situations like this, and, after all, this is what I'm trained to do," he explained, struggling to maintain control of the emotion in his voice. "I think Lucy needs you with her right now."

Ben nodded and sat back down as Simon and Rose went over to their niece and nephew, who by now were looking very scared. Savannah was on the brink of tears, and Charlie was gripping her hand very tightly and alternating his gaze between Savannah, his parents, and Chief Michaels. "Why is there a policeman here? Did somebody get in trouble?" he asked innocently.

"Come on, Savannah, Charlie, let's go back upstairs. Uncle Simon and I will explain everything to you and the other children, okay?" Rose said, taking Charlie's hand as Simon took Savannah's hand.

Once Simon and Rose had left with Charlie and Savannah, Ben stood up. "Chief Michaels is right; it would be best for us to go identify David's body now rather than wait. The longer we put it off, the harder it's going to be."

Matt nodded. "I'll get my keys. We'll swing by the hospital on our way back and check on Leah."

"I want to go with you," Sarah announced.

"Sarah, are you sure?" Matt asked. "It's not going to be easy."

"I'll stay in the car at the morgue, if you want, but I would like to see Leah. The girl was practically part of the family as often as she was at Mom's house. The girls called her Aunt Leah, and loved it whenever she babysat for them. I want to see her."

Matt nodded. "Okay, but only as long as you stay in the car at the morgue if you don't feel you can handle it."

After Chief Michaels, Ben, Matt, and Sarah left, Chandler went over to sit by Lucy and Annie. "Is there anything that I can do for you?"

When Annie didn't say anything, Lucy spoke up. "Could you do the funeral? I don't think I can do my own brother's funeral."

"Of course," Chandler replied.

"I'm going to go call the Colonel and Grandma Ruth; they'd want to know. Is there anyone else I should call, Mom?"

"Will you call Ryan? Please? I don't think I could handle telling him."

"Sure," Lucy replied. She went into the kitchen and picked up the phone. She sat down and looked at it, trying to build up the strength to make the phone calls that she wished she didn't have to make. Finally, after a few moments, she began to dial. She listened to it ring and waited for an answer.

"Hello?"

"Captain Stevens? This is Lucy Kinkirk."

"Hi, Lucy. What can I do for you?"

Lucy took a deep breath, and then continued. "Captain, there was an accident this afternoon. David and his girlfriend Leah were involved. David didn't make it."

Captain Stevens gasped. "Oh, Lucy, I'm so sorry! How's Annie? Is there anything I can do?"

"Could you come over? I think Mom needs you right now. She's here at my house."

"Of course, I'll be right over."

Lucy hung up the phone. One call down, one more to go.

"Mrs. West?" Ruthie asked softly as she, Peter, and Sam walked up to Leah's mother, who was sitting in the ICU waiting room. "How is Leah doing?"

"Ruthie! I'm so sorry about David! Leah's doing about as well as can be expected, considering. She's resting right now," Evelyn West said. Her face was stained with tears, but she was surprisingly composed. "Her brother's on his way here from New York. We're just hoping that he gets here in time. I don't know why I'm telling you this; after all, you just lost your brother. I should be asking how you're doing rather than rambling on like that."

"We're doing as well as can be expected," Ruthie replied. "It hasn't totally sunk in yet, you know? It's so hard to believe that David's really dead. We wanted to see Leah, though. I know that David would have wanted some of us to be here with her."

"Thank you for thinking of us. Leah's not in much pain, at least not physically; the morphine that the doctors are giving her is taking care of that. Emotionally, she's still suffering from the shock of everything, especially of finding out that David didn't make it. She knows that she doesn't have much time left, and although she's sad because she knows that we're hurting, she's at peace because she knows that she'll be with David again."

"Could I see her?" Sam asked.

Evelyn looked at him with compassion filled eyes. "Yes, of course you can. Leah would want to see you. Like I said, she's supposed to be resting right now, but she'd be upset if she knew you were here and we didn't let you in to see her. Go on in, her room's just down the hall; first door on the right.

Sam nodded and walked slowly down the hall. When he reached her door, he paused outside and looked in through the windows. He hardly recognized the girl lying in the bed. The Leah he knew was always full of energy and bubbly and bright. The girl lying in the bed was so pale, and had bruises all over. Her arm was in a sling, and she lay perfectly still, so still Sam was afraid she was asleep, but then she moved, turning her head towards the door. When she saw Sam, she smiled a little, and motioned with her uninjured arm for him to come in. He opened the door and walked over to her bed.

"Sam, I was hoping you would come," Leah said softly. She reached out and took his hand in hers.

"Hey, Leah. How are you doing?" Sam asked, unsure of what to say.

"You never have liked awkward situations, have you, Sammy?" Leah said, smiling. She was the only person who could ever get away with calling him "Sammy." She had called him that one day shortly after she and David started dating, and somehow the name had stuck. Since then she hardly ever called him "Sam", it was always "Sammy."

Sam attempted to smile, but failed. "Yeah, I always let David take care of those."

"Oh, Sammy, I know you're gonna miss him, but he'd want you to stay strong. I need you to stay strong. Please? At least till I'm gone?"

Sam's façade broke then. "Leah, I can't do it! David was my best friend, and you…you were like a sister to me. I can't stay strong when I'm losing both of you!"

"Oh, Sammy," Leah whispered. "Always the sensitive one. You've always hated seeing anyone hurt, and you're always so caring. I know it's going to be hard to go on, but David would want you to. He wouldn't want you to sit in a corner and mope. And neither do I. You need to go on with your life; live your life for David, for me. Live the life that David and I never got a chance to. Will you do that for me?"

Sam nodded and wiped away the tears that had escaped from his eyes. "I'll try."

"Good." Leah smiled. "Do you want to know what the announcement was?"

"What?" Sam asked, confused.

"The announcement. Remember? David texted you and said that he had an announcement. DO you want to know what it was?"

Sam had forgotten all about the announcement once Captain Michaels and Chandler brought news of the accident. "What was it?" he asked.

"David asked me to marry him, and I said yes. Oh, Sam, he was so happy!"

"Oh Leah." Sam sat down on the edge of Leah's bed and gave her a gentle hug. "It's not fair. You and David will never have the happily ever after ending that you deserve."

"Sammy, it's okay. I'm okay with that. David and I will be together again soon, and up there we'll be together forever. We are getting our happily ever after, just not in the way we expected." Leah closed her eyes. "I'm so tired, Sam. Is Wilson here yet? I have to hold on for Wilson."

"Wilson?" Sam was puzzled. "Who's Wilson?"

"David never got a chance to tell you, did he? Wilson is my brother. He ran away and got married before I was born. He lived here in Glenn Oak for awhile, but then he moved away and my parents lost track of him. When I went out to New York last summer, I found out that he lived there, and convinced him to call our mom. He didn't even know that Dad had died. We spent the rest of my time in New York getting to know each other. He has a son around our age. His name's Billy."

"He wasn't here when I got here, but maybe he's here now. I'll go check. You rest for now, okay?" Leah nodded and Sam left the room.

When Sam got back out to the waiting room, Ben, Matt, and Sarah had arrived. Although he didn't see anyone that he didn't recognized, he asked anyways. "Leah wants to know if Wilson is here yet."

Mrs. West shook her head. "Not yet, but he called a few minutes ago to say that he and Billy had landed at the airport. They were going to get a cab and would be here as soon as they could."

At the sound of Billy's name Matt and Ruthie stared at Mrs. Wilson. "Leah's brother is Wilson? Wilson West whose wife died and has a son named Billy?" Matt asked.

Mrs. Wilson looked confused. "Yes, but how did you know all that? How did you know his wife died?"

"I think that your son Wilson is the same Wilson that my sister Mary dated for awhile," Matt explained. "We had no idea he was related to you. West is a pretty common last name, and Leah never mentioned anything about a brother."

"That's because until Leah went to New York last summer, we had no idea where he was. He ran away to get married because we didn't approve of his wife. When he lived here in Glenn Oak we would see him around town occasionally, and if he and Billy were at the park at the same time Leah was, he would play with her, but after he moved we lost track of him. It wasn't until Leah went to New York that we found out where he was and regained contact with him."


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: I originally had no plan to have Wilson in this story, as I've never really been a huge fan of his, but this story kind of just started writing itself. It's definitely changed a lot from my original plan, but I think it's a lot better. Please read & review!

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"Where is my sister?" Wilson demanded, rushing into the ICU waiting room. "How is she?"

Mrs. West stood up and walked over to her son. "She's holding on for you, Wilson. She keeps asking for you," she said, struggling to hold back her tears and stay strong for her son.

"They're sure there's nothing they can do?" Wilson asked, searching his mother's face for any sign of hope.

Mrs. West shook her head. "No, her injuries were too severe. They weren't sure she'd last this long, but she was determined to hold on until you got here. She wanted to see you one more time."

Wilson nodded. "I'll go see her. Billy's parking the car, and then he'll be up." He slowly headed down the hallway to Leah's room.

Leah. His baby sister. He still envisioned her as that little girl who would sometimes play with Billy in the park. When he had run into her last summer in New York, he could scarcely believe it was her. That cute little girl had grown up into a beautiful young woman. If she hadn't recognized him and called his name, he would have walked right by him and never known it was Leah. They had spent the rest of that summer getting to know each other. By the end of the summer, they felt as if they'd always known each other, and Leah and Billy had become best of friends. Wilson and Billy had flown out to Glenn Oak once to visit her, and they'd talked to each other at least once a week on the phone. Wilson had planned to surprise Leah for her birthday next month with a visit from himself and Billy. Now, that would never happen.

"Leah?" Wilson called softly as he entered her room.

Leah opened her eyes and turned her head towards the door. "Wilson," she said softly, smiling.

"Hey, girlie. How you doin'?"

"I'm glad you're here, Wilson. I wanted to see you. Is Billy here?" Leah asked, avoiding Wilson's question.

Wilson nodded, fighting back tears. It was hard to see his little sister looking so frail, hooked up to all those machines. "Yeah, he's here. He's parking the car, then he'll be in."

"Good." Leah closed her eyes and it was evident she was fighting back a wave of pain.

"Leah? Honey, is there anything they can give you to help with the pain?"

Leah nodded pointed to a cord laying on the bed, her eyes still shut tightly against the pain.. One end of the cord was attached to a machine, and attached to the other end was a button. Wilson handed the button to her. She pressed it, and a few moments later her face relaxed and she opened her eyes. "Morphine pump," she explained. "I try not to use it to much because it makes me sleepy."

"It's okay if you need to sleep, Leah. Don't fight it for me."

Leah shook her head. "No. I want, no, I need, to spend time with you and Billy."

"Are you two talking about me already?" Wilson moved aside so Leah could see who had spoken. Billy stood in the doorway smiling, though it was apparent that smile was forced.

"Always. I never could resist your charm, you know," Leah joked.

Billy walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. "No girl can," he replied, leaning over to give her a hug.

"Oh, you're so full of it!" Leah huffed. "I've missed you. Billy."

"Missed you, too, kid." Even though Billy was only a few years older than Leah, he'd called her "kid" from nearly the first time they'd met. "How are you?"

"It's not as bad as it looks, Billy, I promise. The machines make it look worse than it is," Leah insisted.

"Come on, kid. Shoot straight with me here." It was obvious from his manner of speech that Billy had grown up in New York.

"I'm in some pain, but I'm on a morphine pump, so if the pain gets to be too much, I can just press the magic button, and poof, it goes away." Leah leveled a glare on Wilson, warning him not to say a word about the dose she's taken just before Billy had arrived.

"And how often is that?" Billy prodded.

Leah rolled her eyes. "As often as I need, okay?"

Wilson looked at Billy, giving him a silent warning to drop it. "Okay, okay, sorry," Billy said, holding up his hands in a defensive gesture.

"I want to tell you guys something. David asked me to marry him today."

Billy and Wilson had been informed about David's death, and both had agreed not to mention his name unless Leah brought it up first. "What'd you say?" Wilson asked.

"I said yes, of course, dummy!" Leah answered, laughing softly. "Do you really think I would have mentioned it if I'd said no?"

"She does have a point, Dad," Billy mentioned.

"Hey, don't I get any help here? You're both against me?" Wilson pouted, making Leah laugh again.

"I wanted you two to know. I know you would've been happy."

"Happy? Happy? Are you kidding? I'm thrilled! My baby sister finally hooked a guy!" Wilson exclaimed.

"Finally? Finally? Wilson, I'm only nineteen! It's not like I was in any danger of being an old maid. Besides, I'd hooked David all the way back in high school. We just didn't want a forever long engagement."

"Are you sad? That you'll never get married? I mean, every girl dreams about her wedding, right?" Billy asked, causing Wilson to glare at him.

"Hey, back off, big brother. He's only asking me something that anyone would wonder. I was a little sad at first, but David and I will be together again soon. Then we'll never be separated. I'm not scared. I was at first, but now I'm ready. David's waiting for me, and I just can't imagine going on without him." Leah said, smiling sleepily. "Will you go get Mom? I don't know how much longer I can hold on."

"I'll go get her," Billy said, rushing out the door. Less than a minute later he was back with Mrs. West.

"Mama," Leah whispered. "Mama, I'm so tired."

"I know, baby girl, I know. It's okay to go now. You don't have to hold on any longer, baby."

"Wilson," Leah whispered. "I'm so glad that I got to spend last summer with you. That was the best summer of my life."

"Mine, too, honey, mine too. I'm going to miss you when you're gone, but it's okay. I know you're tired. It's okay to let go."

"Billy?"

"Yeah, Leah?"

"You're the best nephew an aunt could ask for, even if you are older than me."

Billy tried to smile, but failed. "Thanks, kid. See you on the other side, okay? Love you."

Leah smiled one last time, then closed her eyes and slipped into a coma. Two hours later, she and David were being reunited in Heaven.

One of Leah's wishes was to have a joint funeral with David, and when Mrs. West mentioned it to Matt, he was sure the rest of the Camdens would agree, so the next day Mrs. West, Wilson, and Billy were standing on the Kinkirk's doorstep, waiting for someone to answer the door.

"Hi, come on in," Mary said after opening the door. The Wests stepped into the house and Mary closed the door behind them. "Everyone's in the living room, well, except for Rose and Sarah, that is. They're watching the kids and keeping an eye on Roxanne over at the parsonage. We figured it'd be easier on everyone if we didn't have all the kids underfoot."

"You talk as if there's a whole bunch of kids. How many are there?" Wilson asked as his mother and Billy went into the family room.

"Well, Matt and Sarah have two, twin girls. Carlos and I have three boys, the youngest two are twins.. Lucy and Ben have four, three girls and a boy. Her two youngest, a boy and a girl, are twins. Simon and Rose have one girl, and Ruthie and Peter have one boy. So, eleven total, I guess."

"Wow, I can see where that would be quite a handful if they were all here. It's hard to believe that all your younger siblings are married with children now. I mean, obviously, I knew they were older, of course, but I guess in my mind I still see them as being the same ages they were when I last saw them."

Mary smiled. "I know what you mean. I have a hard time believing that Billy's a grown man now. I still think of him as that little kid that he was when I first met you. Anyways, enough catching up for now. We'd better get into the living room before they send out a search party for us. There will be time to catch up after the funeral. You are sticking around for a little while after the funeral, aren't you?"

Wilson nodded. "Billy's flying back to New York the next day, but I'm staying here for a few days. That way I can kind of keep an eye on Mom, you know?"

Mary nodded. "I'm glad that my siblings and I all live here in Glenn Oak so we can be there for Mom."

Three days later, the funeral was over, and the two families, along with Chandler and Roxanne, were back at the Kinkirk's.

"How's Billy holding up?" Mary asked Wilson as she sat down on the deck steps leading down to the backyard, where Billy was playing with all the kids.

Wilson watched Billy give Savannah a piggyback ride for a few moments before he answered. "He and Leah were really close, you know? Sometimes when they were together it was hard to believe that they hadn't really grown up together. They were best friends. He'll be alright. It might take him awhile, but eventually he'll get to a point where he's ready to move on."

"What about you? How are you holding up?"

Wilson sighed. "It's hard, you know? She was my little sister, and I was just getting to know her, and now she's gone."

Mary rested her head on Wilson's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Wilson. I can't imagine how you must feel right now. I mean, I lost my brother, but I had twenty years with David and he and I were never really that close. By the time they were old enough to walk and talk, I had been kicked out of the house, so it wasn't really until Carlos and I moved back here after Dad died that we really got to know each other, and I guess I just never really took the time to really get to know him, at least not like you did with Leah."

"Yeah, well, Leah and I had something special. I guess I just felt guilty that I missed her growing up years, and that she never had a big brother to look after her and protect her, so I wanted to make the most out of the time we had together."

"If Leah hadn't happened to run into you in New York, then you wouldn't have had to attend her funeral today. In fact, if she hadn't run into you in New York, you'd probably have no idea that she died, much less mourn her death. Do you wish things were different?"

Wilson placed a couple of fingers under Mary's chin and tilted her head up to look at him. "No. You know why? A couple of reasons. First, I would never trade the time I had with my sister for anything, even taking away the pain of her death. That summer was the best summer of her life, and of mine, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Second, I wouldn't have seen you again. If I hadn't been here for Leah's funeral, the chances of me seeing you again would be one in a million. That's something else I wouldn't trade for anything in the world."

"Wilson," Mary breathed, unable to tear her gaze away from Wilson's, "I'm married. I have three kids."

"Mmhm," Wilson murmured, not really hearing anything Mary was saying. He was concentrating too hard on not kissing her to listen to what she was saying. "Mary, not a day goes by where I don't think of you and wonder about what could have been if you and I had stayed together and gotten married. I've missed you, Mary. Billy leaves to go back to New York tomorrow. I'm going to be alone in my hotel room. Come see me?"

"What time?" Mary asked before she realized what she was saying. "No! What am I thinking? Wilson, no. I'm happily married to Carlos!"

"There's a difference between being married, and being happily married. If you were happily married, you wouldn't have even thought about. I'm not going to push you into doing something that you don't want to do. I'm taking him to the airport at eleven. I'll be back at the hotel by noon." Wilson stood up and went inside, leaving Mary sitting on the steps alone, lost in her thoughts.

Precisely at noon the next day, Mary took a deep breath, and then knocked on Wilson's hotel room door.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: I hope that you're not all wanting to kill me for having Mary cheat on Carlos, but like I said, this story kind of just started writing itself. That was not in my original plans for this story at all! If you're reading this chapter, then evidently you're not too mad...and for all of you Wilson/Mary fans, even though they're not in this chapter, you will definitely see more of them in the coming chapters! Please R & R!

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The ringing of her cell phone awakened Lucy from her sleep. As much as she wanted to roll back over and ignore it, she knew that she had to answer it. After all, it would be a parishioner calling with a problem. She groped around on her bedside table till she found the phone, then answered it without looking at the caller id. "Hello?" she mumbled.

"Lucy? It's Chandler. I'm at the hospital with Roxanne; she's in labor."

"Seriously?" squealed Lucy, now wide awake. "That's great! Ben's off tonight, so he can stay with the girls. I'll be there as soon as I can!" She hung up the phone and rolled over to face Ben. She shook hi shoulder to wake him up. He'd become used to early morning phone calls and had learned to sleep through them. "Ben, wake up! Roxanne's in labor. I'm going to the hospital to be with her and Chandler."

"Okay. Tell them congratulations," Ben mumbled before going back to sleep. One of the perks of being a firefighter is that he'd learned how to fall asleep quickly.

Lucy rushed around getting ready, and then drove to the hospital. When she arrived, Chandler met her in the waiting room. "Luce, I'm glad you could come. She's been asking when you would get here. She wants you to be in the room with us when she has the baby."

"Seriously?" Lucy squeeled. "I would love to be in the room! I'm so excited for you two! How far along is she?"

"She's dilated to eight centimeters already. The doctors think that she's actually been in labor for awhile and didn't realize, because she was dilated to almost six when we got here," Chandler explained as they walked to the room.

"Has she had an epidural yet?" Lucy asked.

Chandler shook his head. "The doctors said things are moving too fast; there's not enough time for her to get an epidural." He pushed open the door to his wife's room. "Roxanne? Lucy's here," he called softly as he walked into the room, Lucy following him.

"Lucy," Roxanne panted as she breathed through a contraction. When it passed, she said, "I don't know how you've done this three times without an epidural!"

Lucy laughed. "Well, when you have your babies in an elevator, a church, and at home, you really don't have much choice. At least you're having yours in a hospital."

Roxanne laughed, then stopped abruptly as another contraction hit, her face contorted in pain. "Just breathe through it, Roxanne," Lucy coached, moving to the side of the bed. "Don't fight it. It's easier that way, believe me." Roxanne nodded.

"Chandler, I think it's time to push! Go get the doctor!" Roxanne insisted, panic evident in her voice.

"Are you sure?" Chandler asked. "They just checked you a few minutes ago and said you were only at eight."

"Go ahead and get the doctor, Chandler. It won't hurt for them to check her again, and a woman's instincts are usually right when it comes to these things," Lucy said.

Chandler nodded, and then hurried out of the room. He came back a few minutes later with Matt in tow.

"I hear you think it's time to push," Matt said, moving to the bed. Roxanne nodded, unable to speak because of another contraction. "Okay, then, when this contraction is over, I'll check you again, and we'll go from there."

"I have to push," grunted out Roxanne. "It hurts! Let me push!" she screamed as the contraction ended.

"Roxanne, if you push too soon, you're going to get tired, and you could tear. I know it's hard, but you have to fight that feeling until they're sure you're dilated enough," Lucy soothed.

Matt finished checking Roxanne, and then turned to Chandler. "This baby's coming out now whether we're ready for it or not. She's fully dilated and with a coupe more contraction, that head is going to crown whether she's pushing or not."

Chandler nodded and moved up by Roxanne's head. "You hear that, sweetheart? Our baby's coming!" Roxanne nodded, relieved that it was almost over.

"Okay, Roxanne, on the next contraction, I want you to push," Matt instructed. "It's going to hurt, and it's going to burn, but your baby will be here soon!"

Roxanne nodded. When the next contraction hit, she took a deep breath, grabbed Chandler's hand on one side and Lucy's on the other, and pushed. Just four pushes later, the baby was out.

"Is she okay?" Roxanne asked over all the squalling the baby was making.

Matt smiled. "Your baby is perfectly healthy. There is one thing, though." Roxanne and Chandler grasped, and Roxanne held tightly to Chandler's hand. Lucy, who had moved down by Matt to see the baby, just smiled. "You baby's not a her; it's a him."

"What?" Roxanne gasped in disbelief. "But the ultrasound-"

"Can sometimes be wrong," Matt explained. "It's rare, but not unheard of."

Chandler laughed. "A son! I have a son!" he exclaimed.

"So, any idea what you're going to name him?" Lucy asked as the nurses worked to clean up the baby. "I mean, after all, you've been thinking it was a girl all along."

Chandler and Roxanne looked at each other and smiled. "Yes, we actually have a name picked out already," Chandler said. "We're going to name him Kevin Michael Hampton. We knew that if we had a boy we wanted to name him after Kevin."

Lucy put her hand to her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me," she whispered. Tears slid down her cheeks unnoticed as she hugged first Chandler, and then Roxanne.

After she'd had her fair share of turns to hold the baby, Lucy left the new parents and their son to sleep. On her way home, on an impulse, she stopped at a drugstore and bought a pregnancy test. When she got home, Ben and the children were still sleeping, so she slipped quietly into the bathroom, opened the box, and took the test. She left it sitting on the edge of the sink without looking at it, too scared of knowing the results.

Lucy was in the kitchen beginning breakfast preparations when Ben came bounding into the room. "Lucy?" he asked, trying to remain calm. "Is this-?" he asked, not finishing his question, but instead holding up the pregnancy test.

Lucy glanced at it, and then went back to her preparations. "It's a pregnancy test, Ben," she replied.

"Do you know what it says?" Ben asked, moving to stand behind his wife.

Lucy's hands stilled and she slowly shook her head. Turning to look at Ben, she confessed, "I was too scared to know what it said."

Ben took Lucy's hand and led her to the living room. He motioned for her to sit on the couch, and then sat down beside her. "Lucy, too scared that you were pregnant, or too scared that you weren't pregnant?" he prodded gently.

"Both," Lucy whispered. She looked up at Ben, and he saw that there were tears in her eyes. "I want to have a baby with you, I really do, but I'm scared. After all the troubles I've had with my previous pregnancies, and then the idea of having five kids, or six, if I have twins again…"

Ben pulled Lucy over to sit in his lap. "Luce, you heard what Matt said. He said it's fine for you to have more kids, as long as your careful and don't push yourself too hard during the pregnancy. As for having five kids, or possibly more, if you feel you need help, we can hire someone to help you with the kids. A mother's helper, or something. Anyways, Savannah's almost eleven. That's more than old enough to help you with the other kids."

Lucy nodded. "So does this mean-"

"Yes! You're pregnant!" Ben said excitedly.

Lucy laughed. "Ben, quiet down or your going to wake the kids up!" Ben immediately looked contrite, causing Lucy to laugh again.

"Are you happy?" Ben asked, unable to read Lucy's face.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, I'm happy. I'm so happy, Ben."

Ben gave Lucy a kiss. "Good. So am I," he said.

"Sam? Are you okay?" asked Amy, Sam's girlfriend of almost a year. They were on a date at the promenade, yet to Amy it felt as if she were alone. Ever since David's death over five months ago, Sam had been distant and quiet, which was not at all like him. Of the twins, Sam had been the party boy, always out looking for a good time, while David had been the more quiet and studious one, rarely joining his brother at the parties.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine," responded Sam, rather absentmindedly.

"No you're not, Sam!" Amy insisted. "You haven't been yourself since David and Leah died. I swear, when we go on dates, it sometimes feels like I'm all alone! You're always so distant, even with me! Sam, I'm your girlfriend! Can't you at least be honest with me? What's going on with you, Sam?"

Sam sighed. "Look, Amy, I'm sorry. I'm really not in the mood to talk right now, okay?"

"No! That's not okay, Sam!" Amy yelled, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. "You asked me out on this date! You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself! I know you just lost your brother, but Sam, you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself! There's other people in this world who are hurting besides you! Your mom, you brothers and sisters, Leah's mom, brother, and nephew, and I could go on and list even more people! I know that you miss your brother, but you can't spend the rest of your life moping around! David wouldn't have wanted that, Sam!" Amy's voice softened. "He'd want you to go on with your life. Isn't that what Leah told you? Didn't she tell you to live your life for her and David? Sam, please, stop living in this constant pity party for yourself." Amy stood up, gave Sam a kiss on his cheek, and then walked away, leaving Sam alone to think over what she had just said.

After awhile, Sam stood up and began walking with no real destination in mind. Eventually he ended up in front of Captain Ryan Stevens' house without really knowing how he got there. He debated from a moment, then went up and knocked on the door. A moment later it was opened by Ryan.

"Sam," Ryan greeted, surprised. Sam had never really accepted the fact that his mother was dating, and made it very clear that he did not care for Ryan. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm not really sure, sir. I just needed someone to talk to, and this is where I ended up," Sam explained nervously.

"Well, I'm pretty good at listening, I've been told. Come in," Ryan invited. Once Sam was inside, Ryan led him to the living room, and he took a seat in an armchair while Sam sat on the couch. "Now, what was it you wanted to talk about, Sam?"

"Well, sir-" Sam began, but Ryan stopped him.

"Sam, you don't have to call me sir. Please, call me Ryan. We're both adults, and I'm dating your mother. I see no need for the formality of 'sir.' All it does is make me feel old," joked Ryan.

Sam smiled. "Okay. Like I said, I'm not really sure how or why I ended up here, but I need someone to talk to. I can't talk to Mom or any of my siblings because they're hurting, too, and I would talk to Amy, but, well, let's just say she's a little upset with me right now and I'm not even sure that she hasn't broken up with me. I guess you're the only person I could think of."

"Is it about David, Sam?" Ryan asked gently. When Sam nodded, he continued, "Sam, I'm going to tell you something that I haven't told anyone, except for your mother, of course. When I was nineteen, my younger brother died. He and I were less than a year apart, so we were very close. We did pretty much everything together growing up. He had just graduated from high school, and I had just finished my freshman year of college. He was on his way to a friend's house, where a group of our friends and I were throwing a surprise party for him, when another driver ran a red light and t-boned him. He died instantly. For several months afterwards, I retreated from life. I no longer went to parties, or hung out with friends, or did any of the things that we used to do together. I felt that since his life was cut short and he would never get to do any of the things he'd planned to do, or enjoy any of the things that he used to enjoy, than neither should I. For nearly six months I made myself miserably because I felt that was the best and quickest way for me to get over his death. He had been planning on majoring in pre-med in college, and had had a sweet, beautiful girlfriend who he was deeply in love with. I felt that the wrong brother had died. I kept thinking that it should have been me who was killed instead of me. After all, he was the serious one, always studying and planning, and I was more of the wild one, going to parties, barely passing my classes, and caring more about having fun than anything else."

Ryan paused, and then continued. "Sam, those six months were the worst months of my life. I was miserable. It wasn't until I finally started living again that I finally came to terms with my brother's death. I realized then that hiding myself away and staying in a constant state of mourning would never bring my brother back. Rather, living my life the way he would want me to did the most to honor his memory. Don't take as long as I did to realize that, Sam. You have so many people who love you and care for you, and are worried about you. Your mother, your brothers, sisters, friends, and yes, even me. Live your life for David, Sam."

"I had no idea, Ryan. Mom never told me about your brother, even after David's death," Sam said, still shocked at what he had just heard.

"Yes, I know;," Ryan replied. that's because I asked her not to. I knew that you weren't ready to hear it just then, but that when the time was right, I would tell you. Today, when you showed up on my doorstep, I have to admit, I was shocked. You've made it quite clear how opposed you are to your mom and I dating, and you've been quite adamant that you do not care to have me around. So, I figured that you needed to hear my story."

"Thanks, Ryan. I did need to hear that. It kind of made me wake up and realize that I couldn't go on the way I have been when Amy left me at the promenade today. I know that I haven't always been most accepting of you, but I guess I've been scared that you would take Dad's place; that Mom would date you, and maybe even eventually marry you, and forget all about Dad. I realize now that's never going to happen. There's room for both you and the memory of Dad in all of our lives. Mom deserves to be happy again, and, if you're what makes her happy, then I'm okay with that.

"Mommy? You okay?" Daniel, Peter and Ruthie's three year old son, climbed up onto the couch beside where his mom was sitting. Just a few minutes earlier, she had gasped and bent over. When she'd straightened up, she had gone to the couch and sat down.

Ruthie managed a shaky smile. "Yes, Daniel, Mommy's okay. Your baby sister is just giving Mommy a hard time. Why don't you go watch out the window for Daddy? He should be home soon."

Daniel scrambled down off the couch and ran to the window. He loved watching for Daddy to pull into the driveway. Every afternoon, he stood at the window until he saw his dad's car pull in the driveway. He would then run to the front door and wait until it opened so that he could be the first to greet Daddy.

Once she was sure Daniel was occupied, Ruthie got up and went into her bedroom. She grabbed her cell phone from where it was sitting on her nightstand and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Lucy? It's Ruthie. Could you come over please?" Ruthie's voice trembled as another wave of pain hit her.

"Ruthie? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" Lucy asked, concerned.

"I don't know, Luce. Just please, come over?"

"I'm on my way. Do you want me to call Matt? Is Peter there?"

"Peter's not home from work yet. Don't call Matt!" Ruthie insisted, a note of panic in her voice. "It might be nothing."

"Okay, Ruthie. Hold on. I'll be there in a few minutes. I'll bring Savannah so that she can keep Daniel occupied."

Five minutes later, the doorbell sounded. "Mommy! Aunt Wucy and Vannah are here!" Daniel yelled excitedly.

"Daniel? I need you to let them in for me, sweetie, okay? Open the door for them," Ruthie called from the bedroom. She was feeling quite nauseous and was afraid that if she moved, she would puke. A moment later, she heard the front door open and Daniel's voice telling Lucy where Ruthie was.

"Ruthie?" Lucy asked, appearing in the doorway to Ruthie's bedroom. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know, Luce. I don't feel well at all. I keep having these pains every once in awhile, and I feel like I'm gonna be sick. I'm dizzy, too"

"Okay, it's okay Ruthie. How long have you been feeling like this?" Lucy already had her cell phone out and was dialing Matt's number. She could tell just by looking at Ruthie that she was not in good shape. "Matt, I'm at Ruthie's. Something's wrong with her. She says she's been having pains and that she feels nauseous and dizzy. Her feet and ankles are really swollen, too."

"Get her to the hospital now!" Matt ordered firmly. "I'll meet you there."


	8. Chapter 7

A/N: This chapter is kinda short, but I just couldn't make it any longer. Once again, no Wilson/Mary drama in this chapter, but there will be a lot of them in the coming chapters! This is kind of an angsty and sad chapter. If not everything is medically correct, then I'm sorry. I'm not a doctor or anything, but I have tried to do some research before I wrote this. Read & review, please!

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Peter rushed down the halls of the Glenn Oak Community Hospital. He had received a frantic call from Lucy telling him to get to the hospital immediately; that she was taking Ruthie there and Matt was meeting them there because something was wrong. Although he knew his sister-in-law had a habit of being over dramatic, he could hear genuine panic in her voice, so he ran out of the meeting he was in and drove to the hospital as fast as he felt he could safely go. When he reached the labor and delivery waiting room Lucy was waiting for him. "Where is she? What happened? What's wrong?" he rushed out.

"Matt's with her now. She started having pains, and she was feeling dizzy and nauseous. She called me and asked me to come over, and then as soon as she told me what was going on I called Matt. He told me to bring her here. He was waiting for her in the emergency room when we arrived, and he and another doctor whisked her away, and I'm told, brought her up here," Lucy explained. "I'm sure Matt will come and get us as soon as they know what's going , on. Daniel and Savannah, I brought her with me when I went to your house to keep Daniel occupied, are with Mom. She promised that she'd keep Daniel as long as you needed."

"Peter?" Both Peter and Lucy turned around at the sound of Matt's voice. "Ruthie's stable, for now, but her condition is serious. I need to talk to both of you."

Peter nodded, and then turned to Lucy. "Will you let the rest of the family know? Please?"

"Yes, now go! I'm sure Matt will keep me updated," Lucy answered, pushing Peter towards Matt.

Matt led Peter to Ruthie's room, where she lay looking very pale and worried. "Peter!" she cried as soon as she saw them.

Peter rushed to her side. "Are you okay? What's wrong? What happened? Is the baby okay?"

Matt cleared his throat. "Ruthie, have you been having a lot of headaches lately?"

Ruthie nodded. "They're pretty bad sometimes. Why?"

Matt sighed. "Ruthie, you have toxemia. Do you know what that is?"

Ruthie nodded, her eyes large with fear. "I think so. Isn't that where the mother's blood pressure gets really high and stuff?"

Matt nodded. "That's one of the symptoms, yes. Your body is being filled with toxins because of your pregnancy. That's why you're always so swollen, and it's also the cause of the headaches, dizziness, and nausea. It's a very serious condition. A life-threatening condition. Ruthie, if we don't deliver your baby soon, you could die. We need to have an emergency c-section, and deliver this baby immediately."

"What? But it's too soon!" Ruthie cried. "I'm not even seven months along yet! What's going to happen to my baby?"

"Ruthie, I'm going to be brutally honest with you here. There have been instances of babies born at this stage of development surviving, but if she does survive, she will more than likely have multiple health problems. Her lungs won't be fully developed yet, among other problems. She could end up having muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, or any number of other serious problems. I need you and Peter to make a decision. I can hold out on the c-section to give her time to develop more, but it would be potentially fatal for you, or I can deliver the baby now."

"Deliver the baby." "Wait." Peter and Ruthie spoke at the same time.

"I don't care what happens to me. I want my baby to live!" Ruthie insisted.

"Ruthie, I can't lose you! Think of Daniel; do you want him to grow up without a mother? And the baby, if we wait until she's more developed and you die, she'll grow up without a mother, too. There's no choice here," Peter said, speaking mainly to Matt now. "Deliver the baby. I'd rather give them both a chance at living than give Ruthie a death sentence."

"Ruthie? Are you okay with this?" Matt asked.

"No! She's not ready! She's too young! Please, just wait!" Ruthie cried.

"Ruthie, I'm sorry, honey, but I can't lose you! That would kill me. Please, you need to have the baby now. I cannot lose you!"

Ruthie turned her head away from Peter and Matt and muttered, "Okay, fine. Take the baby. But if something happens and the baby dies, I'm never forgiving either of you."

"So you're agreed then? We're gonna go ahead and deliver the baby?" Matt asked.

"Yes," Ruthie confirmed. "Deliver the baby."

"Alright. We'll schedule the c-section for tomorrow morning. I suggest that you both get some rest between now and then. And, Ruthie? Everything's going to be okay, I promise."

Because he was family, Matt was not allowed to perform the c-section. Although he was allowed to be in the operating room and observe, he chose instead to stay in the waiting room with the rest of the family.

"Why haven't we heard anything yet?" Annie worried.

"Mom, they just took her back to surgery a little while ago. It may be awhile before we hear anything," Matt explained.

"How long before we know how the baby is?" Lucy asked.

"It's hard to tell. It depends how well she's doing. She'll have the best neonatal specialists in this hospital working on her. If that little girl's anything like her mother, she'll make it," Matt replied.

After what seemed like an eternity, Peter came out. "Ruthie's resting right now, but everything went fine."

"And the baby? What about the baby?" asked Rose.

"I haven't heard anything yet. They took her away as soon as she was born," Peter replied. "I haven't seen her since."

Matt and Sarah looked at each other worriedly. "I'll go see what I can find out," Sarah said. "I'll let you know as soon as I know anything, Peter, I promise."

It was over a half hour before Sarah returned to the waiting room, and then it was only to grab Matt and then continue on to Ruthie's room. "Ruthie?" Sarah called softly, standing in the doorway to her sister-in-law's room.

"Sarah! How's my baby?" Ruthie asked anxiously.

Sarah and Matt entered the room, and Sarah took a seat in the chair beside Ruthie's bed while Matt stood beside her. "Ruthie, Peter," Sarah began slowly, "your baby had some problems when she was first born. She wasn't breathing on her own, which is why they took her away so quickly. She's on a respirator, which is doing all of her breathing for her right now, at least until they feel she's strong enough to be switched to a c-pap machine. That machine will assist her with her breathing, but not do quite as much work as a respirator."

"So she's going to be okay then?" Peter asked.

Sarah sighed. "I wish it were that simple. She's very small, Ruthie. Most babies born at this stage have less than a fifty percent chance of making it, even with all of the recent advancements in medicine. Her lungs are not fully developed; she may very possibly have brain damage, and there's numerous other problems that accompany premature birth. We won't know for awhile the extent of her problems.

"What does all this mean?" Ruthie asked. "What exactly is her condition right now?"

"Her condition is listed as critical right now," Matt answered for Sarah. "Ruthie, I'm going to be completely honest with you. Right now machines are keeping your daughter alive. If she doesn't show signs of improvement within the next couple of days, you're going to have to make some decisions as to whether or not you want to keep her on those machines. They're doing everything that they can for her, Ruthie, but it doesn't look good right now. You and Peter need to decide how far you want to go to try to save her."

"Is she in any pain?" Peter asked.

"She is in some pain, yes, because her body's working so hard to stay alive, and it's just not ready for that stress yet. Her little heart is working hard to keep beating," Sarah replied.

"Can I see her? I want to see my baby," Ruthie requested quietly.

"Yes, you can see her, but you'll both have to wear gowns and masks. It's very important that she doesn't get exposed to any germs. In her condition right now, there's no way she'd be able to fight off an infection," Matt warned.

As Peter wheeled Ruthie towards the NICU, he asked, "What are we going to name her? We haven't decided on a name yet. We can't just keep referring to her as 'she' or 'her' or 'the baby.' She deserves a name."

"Well, I was named after my grandma, so why don't we name her after her grandma?" Ruthie suggested.

"Which grandma? My mom or yours?" Peter asked.

"How about both? Annie Paris Petrowski," Ruthie tried it out, then wrinkled her nose. "That's a bit of a mouthful, and it doesn't really go that well."

"Okay, so that combination is out. What if we combine their names and make it one name? Is there any way we could do that?"

"Hmm…not really," Ruthie replied. "What if we put your mom's name first? Paris Ann Petrowski kind of has a nice ring to it."

"I like it," Peter stated, "but won't it get just a little confusing having two Paris's in the family? Why don't we use our mom's middle names instead? What is your mom's middle name?"

"Joyce," Ruthie answered.

"Okay, then, my mom's is Sarah, so how about Sarah Joyce Petrowski. We could always call her by her middle name to avoid confusing her with your sister-in-law," Peter suggested.

"Or we could just make it all one name: Sarah Joyce. We'd still have to come up with a middle name, though," Ruthie sighed. "I don't remember it being this hard to name Daniel."

"Niether do I," admitted Peter. "But then we had more time to pick out a name for him. How about Sarah Joyce Ann Petrowski? Sarah Joyce being her first name, and Ann being her middle name."

"I like it," Ruthie said decisively, "but we're using my mom's first and middle name and we're only using your mom's middle name. That doesn't seem fair. Are you sure that you're okay with that?"

Peter nodded. "We can't give the poor kid four names to remember, and besides, we're closer to your mom than we are mine. After all, my mom isn't even here. Your whole family has been out in the waiting room since early this morning." Ruthie started to say something, but Peter stopped her. "Don't go trying to make excuses for her. She wasn't there for Daniel's birth, either. If she really wanted to be here, she would, but the truth is she doesn't. She doesn't want to be a grandmother. It makes her feel old, and she doesn't like that. She still wants to pretend that she's young, and if she admitted that she has grandchildren, she wouldn't be able to to.

Ruthie nodded. "Okay, then, Sarah Joyce Ann it is."

Three days later, Sarah Joyce spiked a fever. She had been showing little signs of improvement up to that point, but once the fever came, she began to quickly go downhill. Ruthie and Peter spent every moment they could down in the NICU with their daughter, and the Camdens all took turns watching Daniel. Even Paris stepped in to watch him for a couple of hours each day to give the Camden's a break. Two days later, Peter and Ruthie made the decision to turn off the vent. For the first time since she was born, Ruthie was able to hold her daughter. She held her tiny daughter in her arms as Sarah Joyce took her last breaths.


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: A very drama-filled chapter, and it does contain some Wilson/Mary for all of you who are fans of that couple. Also, some mildly suggestive content, but this story is rated T for a reason... As always, please read & review!

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"Matt? How's Ruthie doing?" Sarah asked. Matt had just gotten back from visiting Peter and Ruthie.

Matt sighed. "Not good. On the outside she looks up like she's holding up okay, but she's holding it all inside of her. I can see it. It comes out when she talks to Peter or to me, but she's gentle as can be with Daniel and everyone else."

"Surely she doesn't blame you?" Sarah asked, surprised. "She knows it's not your fault, doesn't she? There's nothing you could have done."

"I don't know. I just keep replaying that day over and over again in my mind. Maybe I shouldn't have pushed her so hard to have a c-section. Maybe I should have let her wait longer; given the baby more of a chance to live," Matt replied as he plopped down on the couch beside his wife.

Sarah got up and went to stand behind the couch and began rubbing Matt's shoulders. "Matt, it's not your fault. If you had waited longer, we could have lost Ruthie and the baby. You made the right decision. You're a good doctor; one of the best obstetricians in the state. You couldn't have done anything different."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Matt asked, tilting his bed back to look at his wife.

Sarah laughed. "Yes, I'm pretty sure you have. You've shown me quite a few times, too," she said, walking around the couch to sit down again beside Matt.

"Is that so?" Matt asked, nuzzling her neck.

Sarah laughed. "Matt! Behave yourself!"

"Hmm? Why? This is so much more fun," Matt replied distractedly as he kissed Sarah's face and neck.

"Because I need to tell you something," Sarah said, doing her best not to give in to Matt. "I'm pregnant."

That got Matt's attention. "What? Are you sure?"

Sarah nodded. "I'm two weeks late. I took a test last week, and it was positive. I just didn't want to say anything because of everything going on with Ruthie and Sarah Joyce."

Matt whooped. "That's great! I'm thrilled! We're gonna have another baby!"

"Matt! You're going to wake the girls up!" Sarah scolded, laughing.

"Sorry. I'm just so happy," Matt replied, pulling Sarah into his lap.

"I'm glad. I'm happy, too," Sarah replied. "I just hope the girls will be as happy as you. It's just been the two of them for so long, I don't know how they'll handle the news that they're going to have a little brother or sister."

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled," Mat replied. "After all, they used to beg us for a little brother so sister, remember? I have something to tell you, too. You're not going to be pregnant alone. Lucy confided in me that she's pregnant, too."

"Really?" Sarah squealed. "That's great! I know that Ben's been wanting her to have another one for awhile now. Let's just hope she makes it to the hospital for this one," Sarah laughed.

"Hello?" Mary answered her cell phone distractedly. She had just finished getting the boys off to school, and was getting ready to go do grocery shopping, along with a ton of other things that she had on her to-do list for today.

"Good morning, beautiful," came the reply.

Mary blushed and looked around, even though she knew she was alone. "Wilson!"

Wilson laughed. "What are you doing today?"

"I have a billion things I have to get done. I have to do the grocery shopping, sign the twins up for basketball, take Charlie to his karate class, pick up the dry cleaning-"

Wilson cut her off. "Do you ever take any time just for yourself? It seems like every time I call you you're busy running errands or running the kids places. Can't Carlos help with some of that?"

"He does the best he can," Mary defended. "Look, Wilson, as much as I want to talk to you, I really have to get going. I've got to get these errands done before I have to be at the school to teach PE. As much as my students would love it if I were late, I can't give them that pleasure."

"Okay," Wilson replied, "but only on one condition: I'm going to be in Glenn Oak this weekend. Come see me?"

Mary sighed. "I don't know, baby. I want to; I really do, more than anything. But I have so much to do, and I haven't' been feeling well recently, so I'm behind."

"You've been sick? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Wilson, I'm fine. It was just a flu bug or something. I'm better now."

"Come on, Mare, come see me, please? I haven't seen you in almost three months; that's far too long in my opinion," Wilson pouted.

"Okay, okay, I'll come see you. Are you going to be staying at the usual place?"

"Yup. I'll text you my room number when I check in. I'll let you go now. See you this weekend, babe."

Mary sighed as she hung up the phone. She never imagined that she would cheat on Carlos, but she just couldn't resist Wilson. During the time that he was in Glenn Oak after Leah and David's funerals, Mary saw him nearly every day. The first time Mary felt a little guilty, but each time she saw him it had gotten easier, and before long she didn't have the slightest twinge of guilt about Wilson. He had been back to Glenn Oak nearly every other weekend since Leah's death, using the excuse that he needed to check on his mother, but Mary knew the real reason he came was to see her. Recently Wilson had been kept quite busy at work and hadn't been able to get away, so it had been nearly three months since their last rendezvous.

Mary was almost finished with her shopping when, on a whim, she decided to grab a home pregnancy test. She couldn't remember when her last cycle was, but she wasn't all that concerned; she'd never been very regular. There would be times where she'd go two to three months without a period. Still, just out of curiosity, she purchased the test.

When Mary got home that afternoon after teaching PE and coaching the girls' basketball team, she grabbed the pregnancy test from where she'd hid it in her lingerie drawer. She locked herself in the bathroom that she and Carlos shared, and took the test. After waiting the required amount of time, she picked up the stick and looked at it. The results jumped out at her. Pregnant.

Mary slumped against the counter. She was almost positive that the baby was Wilson's; it almost had to be. She and Carlos were usually so tired from their busy schedules that they went to sleep as soon as they got in bed. Thankfully, they had been together a few times in the past couple of months, so she didn't have to worry about Carlos finding out that she was cheating on him; at least not yet. When the baby was born without even a hint of Cuban heritage, Carlos would surely know that there was no way the baby could be his; after all, Charlie, Liam, and Keller all looked almost exactly like Carlos. What had she gotten herself into?

"Ruthie, please, just talk to me! You're treating me as if I killed our daughter! We can't keep going on like this!" Peter exclaimed.

"Quiet down. You're going to wake Daniel," Ruthie said coldly. "I don't want to talk."

"Ruthie," Peter said, his voice quieter this time, "this is destroying out marriage. What can I do to make you happy again? What can I do to make it right?"

"Nothing. You've done enough! Don't you see that? You're the one who wanted me to have a c-section! You're the one that insisted I have it right away and not wait! It's your fault that our daughter is dead!" Ruthie screamed.

"My fault? Ruthie, you heard what Matt said-"

Ruthie interrupted Peter before he could finish. "I don't want to hear that name in our house again! Ever! If it weren't for Matt, my baby would still be alive! He told me that she had a chance of making it!"

"That's because she did have a chance! This isn't Matt's fault, or my fault for that matter. It's no one's fault, Ruthie. No one caused you to develop toxemia! No one caused Sarah Joyce to get an infection! It was your decision as much as mine to have a c-section! It was also a mutual decision to turn off the vent, if I remember correctly!" Peter was yelling by this time. "It's no one's fault, Ruth!"

"I only agreed to have a c-section because you and Matt kept pushing me to have one!" Ruthie argued. "Matt told me that she had a chance of making it!"

"He also warned you that she might not make it! He told you the risks of a premature birth! This is not Matt's fault! He was just doing his job! Ruthie, if you hadn't had that c-section, then both you and the baby could have died. Where would I be then? Where would Daniel be? He needs you, Ruthie!"

"My family would have been here for him! He'd have all of his aunts, and his grandma! Maybe it would have been better if I'd died! Maybe if I'd waited, then Sarah Joyce would still be alive! At least I wouldn't have had to watch her die! I wouldn't have held my baby in my arms for the first time as she took her last breaths!"

"Ruthie, maybe it was better that she died! You heard Matt when he told us all the health problems that she could potentially have! If she had survived, what kind of life would she have lived? Would you really want that for her? Ruth, I loved Sarah Joyce as much as you did! I didn't want her to die, either, but when I think of the life that she would have lived, a life filled with doctors and surgeries and hospitalizations, I think maybe she was spared. Maybe God took her for a reason. Maybe He didn't want her to have to suffer."

"God? So now you're going to bring Him into this, too? I don't believe in God anymore. I stopped believing in him the minute my baby girl stopped breathing. No loving God would have let my baby die! No God would have given me hope, only to snatch it away from me!" Ruthie cried.

"So now you're going to blame God, too? You're going to drag Him into this, too? Who are you going to blame next, Daniel? Or maybe you're going to blame your mom, for having you, or Lucy, for taking you to the hospital that day when you were so sick? You could even blame yourself, for developing toxemia! Or are you going to blame Sarah Joyce, for developing the infection? Ruthie, you could find a reason to blame anyone and everyone you've ever known, but that's not going to change that fact that Sarah Joyce is dead! Blaming people is not going to bring her back!" Peter regretted the words as soon as he said them. Ruthie didn't need harsh accusations right now, she needed him there to support her.

Ruthie's face grew pale. She reached out and smacked Peter across his cheek. "Don't you ever say anything like that again!" she screamed. She ran down the hall to her and Peter's bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Daddy?" Peter turned around and saw Daniel standing in the doorway to the living room, his little lip quivering. "Daddy, why's Mommy mad?"

Peter went over to his son and scooped him up, holding onto him as if his life depended on it. He went over and sat down on the couch with Daniel on his lap. "Mommy's sad right now because of Sarah Joyce. She misses her, and wishes that God didn't need her in heaven," Peter explained as best he could. Ruthie and Peter had done their best to explain to Daniel that the baby that had been in Mommy's belly had come out too early, and that God had needed her in heaven, but they weren't sure how much the three-almost-four-year-old understood, even as smart as Daniel was.

"But Mommy was yelling, not crying!" Daniel insisted. "She wasn't sad; she was mad. You were yelling, too, Daddy."

Peter sighed. Daniel was too smart for his own good sometimes. "You're right; Mommy and I were yelling. Sometimes people yell when they're sad, because being sad makes them angry at people. Sometimes, when people are sad, they yell at each other. It's not right, you know that. Mommy and I have told you that yelling is bad. But sometimes, when people are really, really sad, it hurts them, so they yell to try to make the hurt better."

"It's scary, Daddy. I don't like it when you and Mommy yell," Daniel said sleepily, yawning and snuggling up to his dad.

Peter stood up and carried his son back to his room. "I know, Danny. I don't like it when Mommy and I yell, either."


End file.
